Glee hit the small screens in 2009 and became one of the biggest teen shows to air on the Fox network throughout its six-year reign.
The musical comedy-drama explored the lives of the students in the fictional William McKinley High School glee club, the New Directions.
The classmates competed in the show choir competition circuit while its disparate members dealt with social issues regarding sexuality, race and relationships.
Glee ran from 2009-2015 on the Fox Network (Image: FOX via Getty Images)
Following the overwhelming success of the first season, the show ran for a further five series, and wrapped its final episode on March 20 2015 following 121 episodes and over 729 music performances.
The TV show provided a spring-board into the entertainment industry for the cast of fairly unknown actors, and while most have appeared in other shows and films, some members’ careers downturned rapidly.
Naya Rivera – Santana Lopez
Naya Rivera was reported missing after her son was found alone on a rented boat (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Naya Rivera received her breakthrough role as an adult as cold-hearted cheerleader Santana Lopez on Glee.
In July 2020, the breakout star went missing on Lake Piru in California – with her four-year-old son Josey found asleep alone on a rented boat.
A search operation is underway – but her body has yet to be found and is feared dead.
Naya shares son Josey with actor Ryan Dorsey, whom she began dating in 2014.
In November 2016, the actress filed for divorce but later called off the separation in October 2017.
In late November 2017, Rivera was arrested and charged in Kanawha County, West Virginia with misdemeanour domestic battery against Dorsey after she allegedly hit him in the head and face during an altercation over their child. The charges were later dropped.
The former couple later agreed to temporary shared custody.
Career-wise, she starred as Collette Jones on YouTube premium’s Step Up: High Water, a spin-off of the Step Up franchise, and appeared as a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2017.
Cory Monteith – Finn Hudson
(Image: X02203)
Cory Monteith had a number of minor roles prior to portraying Finn Hudson, the star quarterback of his high school football team, who risked alienation from his friends by joining the school’s glee club.
Having previously battled with drug abuse during his teenage years, he admitted himself into a treatment facility for substance addiction in 2013.
He was written out of the final two episodes of Glee’s fourth season after being assured that he would still have his job upon his return by show creator Ryan Murphy.
In April of that year, he had completed his treatment, but by July he was found dead in his Vancouver hotel room. Later reports stated that alcohol and heroin were found in his system.
Lea Michele – Rachel Berry
Lea Michele was accused of making ‘traumatic’ microaggression comments to a fellow Glee co-star (Image: Getty Images North America)
Lea Michele had already carved out a successful career on Broadway before joining the Glee cast as Rachel Berry – the show’s female lead and star singer.
The songstress struck up a relationship with Cory after the pair met on set, and she was with him up until his death in 2013.
She has since released three albums, published two books, and starred in the Fox horror-comedy series Scream Queens, among other TV shows.
In 2020, after vocalising her support for the Black Lives Matter movement, Samantha Marie Ware accused co-star Lea of making “traumatic” micro-aggressive comments towards her while on set.
Samantha claimed the Glee actress made her life “a living hell” and said the experience made her question if she wanted a career in Hollywood.
Mark Sailing – Noah “Puck” Puckerman
Mark Sailing took his own life in a park near his home. He was awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to child pornography charges. (Image: WireImage)
Mark Salling starred in Children of the Corn IV and The Graveyard, before portraying American football star Noah “Puck” Puckerman in Glee.
Alongside appearing in the hit TV programme, he released two albums, Smoke Signals in 2008 and Pipe Dreams in 2010.
On December 29, 2015, he was arrested at his Los Angeles home on suspicion of possessing several thousand photos and videos depicting child pornography.
Two years later, he pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography, and was facing serving a four-to-seven year sentence behind bars.
As part of his plea deal, he was required to enter a sex offender treatment programme.
On January 30, TMZ reported that he had taken his own life in a recreational area near his California home, just weeks before the actor was due to be jailed over child pornography charges.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
