The 51-year-old director's condition was revealed in a court filing from his mother, Shelia Ward, who is requesting she be immediately appointed his temporary conservator to make medical and financial decisions for him while he is incapacitated.

Singleton's family had previously announced that he'd had a stroke on April 17, but there had been no details revealed about the seriousness of his condition.

Singleton became the first black director to receive an Academy Award nomination when he was cited for his debut feature, Boyz N the Hood.

The 1991 film about the lives of young men in South Central Los Angeles starred Cuba Gooding, Jr., Ice Cube, Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne.

His other films include 1993's Poetic Justice, which starred Janet Jackson and Tupac Shakur, 1997's Rosewood, and 2003's 2 Fast 2 Furious.

Singleton had no existing medical directives in place before the stroke, the documents stated.

It's not clear whether the temporary conservatorship has been granted.

Messages left with Singleton's publicist and his mother's lawyer were not immediately returned.

The family had initially acknowledged on Saturday that Singleton had suffered a stroke, saying he was "under great medical care" in an intensive care unit.

Australian Associated Press