Samuel Monroe Jr., the veteran character actor and star of Menace II Society, has died. He was 52.
“I want to thank all of my Facebook family and friends new and old for praying for Samuel Monroe Jr., my son. But today God called him home. Please honor my final request to pray for the family, especially his 3 children,” Joyce Patton, his mother, wrote in a post on Thursday.
In a GoFundMe page that is seeking donations to help offset his steep medical care costs, Tayonna Stewart, daughter of Shawna Stewart, Monroe’s partner, noted that the actor had been battling severe meningitis and had been on life support for months.
That led to mounting health complications for Monroe, including serious pneumonia from a lung infection. “The emotional and financial strain on his family has been immense, over the last nine months with Samuel being in multiple hospitals and two rehabilitation centers,” the page stated.
In the days before his death, Patton filed for court-directed conservatorship to allow her to make final decisions around his life, according to TMZ.
Born in Los Angeles on Nov. 28, 1973, Monroe landed his first acting role in the Patti LaBelle-starring series Out All Night, and he went on to appear in The Lion’s Den and The Steve Harvey Show. His breakout film role came with New Line’s 1993 crime drama Menace II Society, where he played Ilena’s cousin. The feature, directed by the Hughes brothers, was shot around the time of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
He also played Lorenz in Set It Off, working with Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah and Vivica A. Fox; Bulldog in Tales From the Hood; and Sam in the spoof Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood.
He had other TV credits, often in supporting roles, including NYPD Blue, Murder One, Smart Guy and Southland.
Rel Dowdell, director of film studies at Hampton University, paid tribute to the actor. “There was never a modicum of doubt that whatever character he played on the screen was going to be indelible,” he said.
