John Singleton, the famed director best known for his film Boyz N the Hood, has died, aged 51.

Singleton had been on life support following a stroke on 17 April, at which point he was taken to an intensive care unit in Los Angeles. His family decided to take him off of life support on Monday.

The acclaimed filmmaker was the first African American nominated for a best director Oscar for Boyz N the Hood, and was the youngest ever to be nominated for that same award at the time in 1991.

He directed that film while he was in his 20s, and fresh out of film school.

“It is with heavy hearts we announce that our beloved son, father and friend, John Daniel Singleton will be taken off of life support today,” the family said in a statement released on Monday morning. “This was an agonising decision, one that our family made, over a number of days, with the careful counsel of John’s doctors.”

Singleton was a native of Los Angeles, the city in which his acclaimed film was set.

From that initial success, he went on to direct more than 10 films and television series – including Snowfall, a recent drama on FX that focuses in on the crack cocaine epidemic in the 1980s.

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Singleton’s publicist said after his stroke on 17 April that the director had quietly battled with high blood pressure throughout his life.