Who is Bryan Singer? Director of The Usual Suspects and X-Men accused of rape

Bryan Singer is the latest high-profile Hollywood figure to be accused of sexual misconduct, after a new lawsuit emerged alleging he raped a 17-year-old boy aboard a yacht in 2003. The director denies the allegations.

It isn't the first time the 52-year-old has been accused however. Previous lawsuits have alleged similar incidents against underage boys, but none made it to trial, either due to insufficient evidence or the suit being withdrawn by the plaintiff.

Who is Bryan Singer though?

His career began with short film Lion's Den, which starred a number of his friends including actor Ethan Hawke.

His first feature film was Public Access, which Singer co-wrote with Michael Feit Dougan and Christopher McQuarrie.

It's with McQuarrie that Singer hit the big time with 1995 crime classic The Usual Suspects, which won both of them a great acclaim.

The film won two Oscars, one for McQuarrie's original screenplay and one for Kevin Spacey in the Best Supporting Actor category.

Stephen King adaptation Apt Pupil followed, after which Singer signed up for 20th Century Fox's turbulent comic book project X-Men. He joined in December 1996, but the film didn't release until 2000.

It helped usher in a new generation of superhero films that lead to Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, and Singer's own X-Men sequel X2: X-Men United - which is still considered the series' high point.

Singer was close to directing the third instalment (Brett Ratner eventually would) before agreeing to direct a new Superman movie for Warner Bros. Superman Returns fared worse than his X-Men sequel at the box office and was critically panned, ending any hopes of a sequel.

World War 2 thriller Valkyrie saw Singer reunite with McQuarrie to tell the story of an assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler orchestrated by rogue German officers. Jack the Giant Slayer followed, a reimagining of Jack and the Beanstalk for the big screen.

Singer also dabbled in television during this time, helping bring Hugh Laurie's successful House to the small screen.

In 2014 Singer came out as bisexual weeks after he was accused of drugging and rapping a minor in a civil lawsuit. The director's attorney called the allegations "completely fabricated" and the suit was later withdrawn.

A second lawsuit was filed on behalf of an anonymous accuser, in which Singer was again accused of sexual assault. This suit was withdrawn as well at the request of the alleged victim.

He returned to superhero cinema to direct his original cast of X-Men opposite a new cast of younger heroes in time-travelling adventure X-Men: Days of Future Past. Two years later he released following X-Men: Apocalypse before again handing over the series' reins... at least on the big screen.

Singer directed the opening episode of X-Men spin-off TV series The Gifted, which aired earlier this year.

Over the past few months he has been shooting a Freddie Mercury biopic called Bohemian Rhapsody with Mr Robot star Rami Malek. The director was absent from the film's set for extended periods of time however, prompting Fox to halt production on 1 December with just a couple of weeks of filming left to complete.

Singer was then fired by Fox, and the offices of his production company Bad Hat Harry - which were located on the Fox lot - were shut down. A first-look deal Singer had with the studio which expired on 31 October had not been renewed.

Singer's partner is actor Michelle Clunie. The pair had a child, born in January 2015.