Mark Salling suicide another dark note in the ‘Glee’ story

By Nichola

on February 01, 2018

Mark Salling, 35, who became a household name as Noah ‘Puck’ Pukerman, in the hit Fox TV show ‘Glee’, was found dead on Tuesday in Los Angeles. Found hanging in a Little League park, Salling is the second original cast member of the Fox TV show to die an untimely death, after Cory Monteith who played Finn Hudson, was found dead in a Vancouver hotel room after ingesting a toxic combination of alcohol and heroin on July 13, 2013.

Salling apparently committed suicide ahead of his sentencing on child pornography charges in March, which would see him serve up to seven years in prison. His career had ground to a standstill after he was arrested for possession of child pornography showing victims as young as three. More than 50,000 images and videos had been found on his computer, and thousands more on a thumb drive and encrypted hard drive.

The former vocal coordinator of ‘Glee’, Tim Davis wrote, “Today we lost another Glee cast member. Yes, he committed crimes against children. Yes, it's horrific. But #MarkSalling was a broken man, no doubt an abuse victim himself.” He pointed out, “Having compassion for #MarkSalling in no way minimizes his crimes, nor does it minimize the pain and devastation of the victims of those crimes.”

Salling’s death is the latest in a line of unfortunate incidents that have affected the cast of ‘Glee’. Five years ago, Cory Monteith who played the lead character of Finn, had died while the success of the high school musical series was at a high. Monteith had a history of substance abuse even before he was cast in ‘Glee’.

Naya Rivera, who starred as Santana Lopez, has also faced considerable personal struggles. In her memoirs, she had revealed that she had an abortion in 2010 after finding fame on ‘Glee’, after she split from her boyfriend actor Ryan Dorsey. Her relationship with rapper Big Sean also fizzled out, after which she returned to Dorsey, marrying him in 2014. Their son Josey was born in September 2015.

Last year, Naya had been arrested and charged with domestic battery after she supposedly assaulted Ryan during an argument over their child. She filed for divorce in December.