The US film director and producer John Singleton is according to US media reports after a stroke in a coma.
The filmmaker's mother, Sheila Ward, applied for temporary guardianship at a Los Angeles court to defend Singleton's interests, the Hollywood Reporter and TMZ wrote citing court records. Wards said the 51-year-old suffered a major stroke last week and has not been able to take care of himself since.
Singleton immediately won two Oscar nominations in 1992 with his debut film "Boyz N The Hood" about violence in a slum in Los Angeles. He was the first African American to receive this honor in the Best Director division. He then directed films such as "Poetic Justice", "Shaft", "Four Brothers" and "Breathless - Dangerous Truth".
As a producer, he brought the drama "Hustle & Flow" to the movies. He is executive producer of the current TV series "Snowfall" about the crack epidemic of the eighties.