John Singleton, Boyz N the Hood Director and Snowfall Co-Creator, Dead at 51

Oscar-nominated director John Singleton, who helmed Boyz N the Hood and co-created crime drama Snowfall, died Monday. He was 51.

"We want to thank the amazing doctors at Cedars-Sinai Hospital for their expert care and kindness, and we again want thank all of John's fans, friends and colleagues for all of the love and support they showed him during this difficult time," Singleton's family said in a statement to Deadline.

After Singleton suffered a devastating stroke on April 17, the director's family made the decision to remove him from life support earlier on Monday, writing, "This was an agonizing decision, one that our family made, over a number of days, with the careful counsel of John's doctors."

Singleton is perhaps best known as the acclaimed writer and director of the 1991 crime drama Boyz N the Hood -- for which he earned two Academy Award nominations, becoming the first black filmmaker nominated for a Best Director Oscar. He also wrote and directed Poetic Justice, Higher Learning, Shaft, and Baby Boy. Singleton was celebrated for work behind the lens of the 1997 historical drama Rosewoodand 2005 crime drama Four Brothers, and he helmed several studio pictures, including 2 Fast 2 Furious and Abduction.

Although he spent much of his career making movies, Singleton also made his mark on the TV scene, lending his directing talents to episodes of The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,Empire, and Billions. In 2017, he co-created the FX series Snowfall.

"John was such a supernova in his youth that we forget that he was only beginning to fully assert his gifts as a director," his family added in their statement. "As much as we will treasure his body of work, we were looking forward to the films John would have made in the years ahead. In his private life, John is a loving and supporting father, son, brother, and friend who believed in higher education, black culture, old school music and the power of film."

Singleton is survived by his parents and seven children.