Cory Monteith, beloved by Gleeks everywhere for his role of Finn Hudson, died 10 years ago at the age of 31.
The Canadian actor was on summer hiatus from Glee, on which he played a singing quarterback since the hit Fox musical dramedy’s debut in May 2009. Fans were drawn to him — and became invested in his later romance with co-star Lea Michele, who played his on-screen love, Rachel Berry. Off-camera, journalists who interacted with him described as “selfless, unaffected, and so real,” as well as a “humble individual who never let the fame that came with starring on one of TV’s biggest sensations get to his head.”
Monteith, who spoke with candor about his substance-abuse struggles and sought treatment in rehab just months before he died following an intervention led by Glee showrunner Ryan Murphy, was found dead in his hotel room on the 21st floor the Vancouver Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel on July 13, 2013 at around 12 p.m.
According to the coroner’s report, Monteith, who was ending a seven-day stay, failed to check out and was discovered on the floor of his room. He “was clearly deceased and resuscitation was not attempted,” the report noted.
Monteith had returned to his room by himself, footage showed. There was drug paraphernalia, including a spoon with drug residue and a hypodermic needle, as well as two empty Champagne bottles in the room. It was ruled that he died from “a mixed drug toxicity,” of heroin and alcohol, which was deemed “accidental.” (Traces of morphine and codeine were also in his system.)
As memorials popped up outside the hotel as well as Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, where Glee taped, friends and colleagues who spent time with Monteith in his final days said he was “very positive” and “feeling fantastic.”
However, his struggle with addiction was a long-fought battle. Early drug use, starting at age 13, led to his mother staging an intervention when he was 19. He went to rehab, but it didn’t cure him. After humble beginnings working jobs as a Walmart greeter and roofer, Monteith — at the time sober — moved to Los Angeles and landed acting roles.
His mom, Ann McGregor, said in 2018 that he returned to old habits in L.A., admitting to her in December 2012 that he had used drugs again. While he spent the month of April 2013 in rehab, when he got out he underwent he major dental work — getting all his teeth capped — between May and July. McGregor suspected painkillers given to him amid the treatment affected his sobriety.
McGregor also said that at his time of death: “He didn’t have enough drugs in his system to kill him, but for some reason it did because of his intolerance,” which had built up during periods of intermittent sobriety.
Co-stars and celebrities reacted to Monteith’s death on social media, including a “speechless” Taylor Swift, whom he was briefly linked to in 2011. His girlfriend Michele broke her silence weeks after. She had been forced to flee her home, due to paparazzi, with Glee guest star Kate Hudson helping give her privacy to grieve.
Murphy and Michele organized a private memorial for Monteith for the cast and crew. It was also determined while the show would be delayed by a week in returning for the season, they would return to work to mourn together, with grief counselors on the set. He said Michele, whom he described as “a rock,” was integral in the decision.
The show paid tribute to Monteith and his character, with a tribute episode titled “The Quarterback,” that aired in October 2013. There weren’t many dry eyes. Throughout, it was noted how it didn’t matter how Finn died (and, by default, Monteith himself), but how he lived. Michele did a heartbreaking cover of Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love.”
Murphy has since said they shot the tribute “way too soon” when they were “too raw.” While the show lasted two more seasons, ending in 2015, he said “our hearts all kind of broke” after Monteith’s death “and we were all kind of done. The spirit and joy of it has left the building.” He said if he could do it all over, “We would’ve stopped for a very long time and probably not come back. I would be like, ‘That’s the end’ … Because you can’t really recover from something like that.”
Glee alum Jenna Ushkowitz expressed a similar sentiment on her rewatch podcast with co-star Kevin McHale, And That’s What You Really Missed. She said in November, “Finn was the heart of the show and Cory was the heart of our group. … I feel like when Cory died, the show died with him in many ways.”
Michele, who has gone on to marry and start a family, honors her late co-star and love each year. On Thursday, she posted a tribute to Monteith on Instagram, writing, “I hold all of our memories in my heart where they will stay safe and never forgotten. We miss you every day and will never forget the light you to brought to us all.”
She has also written numerous songs about him, including “If You Say So.” She has gotten multiple tattoo tributes as well, including his character’s jersey number — 5.
While she has remained relatively private since his death, she did tell Glamour U.K. they talked about growing old together. Despite her loss, “I feel like I was given the best part of Cory, and I’m thankful for that.” She told Seventeen magazine, “I only have happy memories of Cory. He was not his addiction — unfortunately, it won. But that wasn’t who he was. Cory made me feel like a queen every day. From the minute he said, ‘I’m your boyfriend,’ I loved every day, and I thank him for being the best boyfriend and making me feel so beautiful.” (The Broadway star’s own legacy with the show has been clouded in recent years due to accusations that she contributed to a toxic workplace environment.)
Since Monteith’s death, there has been chatter about a “Glee curse.” Fellow show stars Mark Salling died in 2018 (by suicide as he faced prison time) and Naya Rivera drowned in 2020 (her body was found on the anniversary of Cory’s death). Earlier this year, there was a three-part docuseries called The Price of Glee looking at the deaths of the three young actors. Monteith’s former roommate talked about how stardom wasn’t what it was cracked up to be, noting he had trouble with stalkers and generally seemed burned out on fame.
While his Glee fans — legions strong! — adored their Finn, Monteith was quick to point out himself that didn’t have much in common with the McKinley High School football star, as he was a high school dropout himself.
“You see this young all-American quarterback-looking dude on the show, and you just immediately make assumptions,” he said on George Stroumboulopoulos’s CBC show, Tonight, in 2011. “And I think people really started identifying me with those assumptions.”
Earlier this year, McHale said on the And That’s What You Really Missed pod that he wished he gave Monteith his flowers while he was still here.
“What pisses me off is like he was such a good actor and I don’t think we necessarily told him that enough,” McHale admitted. “The things we miss out [on] getting to see him do…”
