Cory Monteith (RIP)
Sunday, July 14, 2013 at 9:25AM 
Cory Monteith's twitter profile photoWe've lost another Young Hollywood star too soon, apparently to personal demons though the cause of death is "not immediately apparent" according to news reports. Cory Monteith, aka "Finn" from Glee, died last night in a hotel room in Canada. Our hearts go out to Lea Michele and his family and friends.
He played the befuddled singing jock well, with a sweetness of spirit and refreshing modesty. And you know how The Film Experience treasures singing actors.
I had long since stopped watching Glee which proved to be one of the smartest television decisions I ever made. When I started to hate the show during Season 3 I abruptly quit and now the only memories I really have of it are good ones. So this morning I'm replaying one of my favorite TV experiences ever, the Glee pilot. Like the rest of the world when Rachel & Finn spun around each other as "Don't Stop Believin'" kept building my heart soared and I couldn't wait to fall in love with them and the series, too. Glee was one of the great debuts of television history, full of energy, heart and promise. And that's a feeling to hold on to.
RIP Cory.
Glee, Lea Michele, RIP, TV
Reader Comments (11)
Beautiful writing for such a tragic loss.
"Glee was one of the great debuts of television history, full of energy, heart and promise."
So true. They managed to do exceptionally well for the first 13 episodes. Unfortunately it went downhill after that and I stopped watching somewhere along season 2.
Rest in peace, Cory.
So very sad.
Lovely tribute Nathaniel.
Very sad news- he was handsome and talented- these poor Hollywood children they want fame but don't know how to handle it.
Jaragon, that's an awfully flip comment to make. It's been widely reported that Cory Monteith had been dealing with issues before he got cast on Glee. Hollywood probably didn't help, but given the series' unexpected success from rather humble beginnings (glee group musical comedies on Fox don't scream huge overnight stardom), I don't think any of the cast got into it simply because they wanted fame. And especially given Cory's rather quiet post-fame style, I don't think he was in a Lohan-style spiral.
Anyway. Very sad news. I too had stopped watching the show, but to lose anyone at 31 is rather tragic. He was talented although he never really got to show much outside of that narrow pitch he got to field.
It must be said that Lea Michelle is only 26 and has lost a boyfriend (fiance?)
Very nice piece Nat.
I'm very sorry for his death- he was too young to die- I did not mean to be flip.
RIP
I actually checked the last episode he appeared in before he had to leave for the rest of the season to go to rehab. His character was in college and also spending time as Mr. Schuester's assistant for college credit- but we never saw that happen. We just saw him welcomed back and then '.....'. The show still had things happen in his absence, Schuester married, Rachel getting a call back for Funny Girl, and New Directions heading to nationals. The show seemed to acknowledged his absence by not having everything happen without him there because there was just that much of a void left- and Glee has often done a lot a dumb things when characters are gone for a while regardless of actor circumstances. Anyway, going to be interesting to see how the show handles it. There is no clear right way but I think we can expect good intentions behind it no matter what.
So saddened by the news, I ended up watching Glee YouTube clips that night. That pilot ep WAS magic, a magic that was apparent when they reprised "Don't Stop Believin'" with the same singers for Rachel's "Funny Girl" audition; chills. One of my favorite songs was Cory and Lea's "Borderline/Open Your Heart" mashup from the Madonna ep. Lovely post Nathaniel.
What horrible news. Cory was so talented and sweet-hearted and young. He had so much to look forward to. This is unbelievably sad.