Samuel Monroe Jr., who made his acting debut in 1993’s Menace II Society and went on to appear in Tales from the Hood, The Players Club and various TV roles, died Wednesday, August 26, months after first battling a severe case of meningitis and MRSA pneumonia. He was 52.
His mother Joyce Patton, announced his death in a Facebook post today. “I want to thank all of my Facebook family and friends new and old for praying for Samuel Monroe, Jr., my son,” she wrote. “But today God called him home. Please honor my final request to pray for the family, especially his 3 children.”
Earlier yesterday Patton posted a message stating that Monroe was “having a procedure please pray now. Not looking good, please pray.” His hospitalization is believed to have been related to the meningitis, and reports indicate he was on life support at the time.
Born in Los Angeles on November 28, 1973, Monroe first gained notice in 1993 with his appearance in The Hughes Brothers’ Menace II Society. Around that time he also appeared in the Patti LaBelle sitcom Out All Night.
Next came Tales from the Hood in 1995, Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996), two episodes of NYPD Blue, the ’96 film Set It Off with Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah and Vivica A. Fox, and in 1998 Ice Cube’s The Players Club.
Subsequent credits include episodes of Southland and Black Jesus, as well as films She Ball, Blood Sacrifice and, in 2023, Packz. His IMdB page lists an upcoming comedy film, Extra’d Out, as being in pre-production.
He is survived by his mother and three sons; additional information on survivors was not immediately available.
English (US) ·