On February 20, 1992, John Singleton made history as the first African-American to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Director for his film “Boyz in the Hood.”
Singleton, who hailed from South Central Los Angeles and graduated from film school at the University of Southern California, created Boyz in the Hood shortly after. The cast of the film included many famous actors and actresses of today, such as Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Morris Chestnut, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Nia Long. Despite his young age of 24, he was also the youngest to receive the honor.
Singleton’s career continued to flourish with other popular films such as “Poetic Justice” (1993), “Higher Learning” (1995), “Shaft” (2000), “Rosewood” (1997), “2 Fast 2 Furious” (2003), and “Hustle & Flow” (2005).
In 2019, Singleton passed away due to a stroke at the age of 51.
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