Person in history

John Singleton

John Singleton, American film director (born 1968)

Life at a glance

Died
2019 · April 28
Known as
screenwriter, film producer, film director, television producer, and film screenwriter. Citizenship: United States

Their story

Who they were

Personal life Singleton had seven children. [ 1 ] His first child, Justice Maya Singleton, is named after the poet Maya Angelou . [ 2 ] Singleton had a son named Maasai Singleton (born April 3, 1996) and a daughter named Cleopatra "Cleo" Singleton (born September 6, 1998) with ex-girlfriend Vestria Barlow. On October 12, 1996, Singleton married Ghanaian actress Akosua Gyamama Busia , the daughter of Ghana's second Prime Minister Kofi Abrefa Busia . The couple had a daughter [ 3 ]

John Daniel Singleton was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut writing and directing Boyz n the Hood (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, becoming, at age 24, the first African American and youngest nominee in the category.

Early life

Educated at: University of Southern California, Pasadena City College, and USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Early life and education John Singleton was born on January 6, 1968, [ 1 ] in Los Angeles , the son of Shelia Ward-Johnson (later Morgan), a pharmaceutical company sales executive, and Danny Singleton, a real estate agent, mortgage broker, and financial planner. [ 2 ] In a 1993 DIRT magazine interview with Veronica Chambers , Singleton says of his childhood, "When I was growing up, comic books, video games and movies were my buffer against all the drugs,

Path and career

Awards / honours: star on Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Career This section needs more citations . Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . ( April 2019 ) ( Learn how and when to remove this message ) 1990s: Early career and breakthrough In 1991, Singleton made his feature film debut with Boyz n the Hood , a coming-of-age crime drama about three childhood friends growing up in the crime-ridden neighborhood of South Central LA. Starring Cuba Gooding Jr. , Ice Cube , Nia Long ,

Death On April 17, 2019, Singleton suffered a stroke and was placed under intensive care. [ 1 ] He reportedly began to experience weakness in his legs after returning to the United States from a trip to Costa Rica . On April 25, it was reported that he was in a coma, [ 2 ] but his daughter stated otherwise. [ 3 ] On April 28, Singleton was removed from life support and he died at the age of 51 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center . [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ]

Why this date

John Singleton appears on our April 28 calendar for 2019 as a death entry.

Sources

Cite this page

“John Singleton”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/people/john-singleton, accessed October 26, 2026.

Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.

Questions about John Singleton

When did John Singleton die?

April 28 2019.

Who else was born on this day?

The date page lists everyone we hold for that calendar day.

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