Cory Allan-Michael Monteith (May 11, 1982 – July 13, 2013), was a Canadian actor, singer and drummer. He was renownedly known for his role as Finn Hudson in Glee on Fox. Cory Monteith was found dead in a Vancouver hotel room on July 13, 2013 . He died of a mixed drug toxicity, involving heroin and alcohol.
Early life and career
Monteith was born in Calgary, Alberta and raised in Victoria, British Columbia. He has one older brother. His parents divorced when he was 7, and by 13, Monteith, once a promising student who at age 5 could read at a fourth-grade level—was skipping school to get drunk and smoked cannabis. Monteith estimates that by the age of 16, when he quit for good, he had attended 12 different schools, including alternative programs for troubled teens. Cory revealed he went to rehab at the age of 19 and was finally given an ultimatum by his family to get clean or get turned over to the police for theft charges after he stole a significant amount of money from a family member. "I was done fighting myself," he said. "I finally said, ‘I’m gonna start looking at my life and figure out why I’m doing this.'"
Before becoming an actor, he worked in Nanaimo, British Columbia, as a Wal-Mart people greeter, in a car wash, taxicab driver, school bus driver and roofer. Monteith dropped out of school in the ninth grade. Monteith said in an interview: "It wasn't for me. I can remember ever since about the sixth or seventh grade, I just didn't understand why I had to learn what I was learning. For some reason, there was a spirit of rebellion in me."
Monteith began his acting career in Vancouver, British Columbia. He played minor roles in Final Destination 3, Whisper and Deck the Halls, had a recurring role in Kyle XY and also appeared in Smallville, Supernatural, and Flash Gordon. In 2007, he starred in the MTV series Kaya. In 2009, Monteith was cast in the Fox series Glee, playing Finn Hudson, the male lead of the glee club and the quarterback of William McKinley High School. For his audition tape, he drummed on Tupperware using unsharpened pencils. The first time he sang in front of an audience was at his in-person audition, at which he sang "Honesty" by Billy Joel. He and Lea Michele, his Glee co-star, were included in Entertainment Weekly's 2009 "Summer Must List," being named "Summer's Must Songbirds" for their portrayals of Finn and Rachel on Glee, respectively.
In 2011, he starred alongside Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester, and Katie Cassidy in the comedy movie Monte Carlo.
Personal life and death
He resided in Los Angeles, California. Monteith also never graduated from high school and dropped out in the ninth grade. Monteith said in an interview, "It wasn't for me. I can remember ever since about the sixth or seventh grade, I just didn't understand why I had to learn what I was learning. For some reason, there was a spirit of rebellion in me." As of March 31, 2013, Monteith was back in rehab. His treatment was completed on April 26, 2013. Cory was also dating his co-star Lea Michele (Rachel Berry which is the love of Cory's character Finn). They dated from late 2011 to July 2013 (his death).
He was found dead in a room in Vancouver Hotel (Pacific Rim) at an estimated 10:30 P.M. on July 13 (local time) at the age of 31. His autopsy was held in July 15, and it was confirmed that his death was caused by toxic combination and alcohol.
Quotes "I wonder if, in China, they have Canada Town. Am I the first person who has thought that before?"
"Evolved? As a dancer? Me? I don’t fall down as much, unless it’s part of the scripted dance. I don’t step on other people’s toes anymore. I think if I started the show a one out of ten dancer, now I am a two and a half."
