Cory Monteith was a Canadian actor and musician best known for his role of Finn Hudson on the Fox television series Glee. He also played a minor role in Final Destination 3.
Before becoming an actor, he worked in Victoria, British Columbia, as a Wal-Mart people greeter, 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."
In 2009, Monteith was cast in the Fox series Glee, playing Finn Hudson, the male lead of the glee club and the quarterback of McKinley High School. For his audition tape, he drummed on Tupperware using 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 January 2011, he shot the feature film Sisters and Brothers with Dustin Milligan. It was announced that Monteith is at the center of a new untitled workplace comedy, starring and co-producing. He also received his high school diploma in 2011 from an alternative school he attended in Victoria, British Columbia.
Death
On July 13, 2013, at the age of 31, Monteith was found dead in his room at the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel in Vancouver. He had been scheduled to check out that day, but when he failed to do so, hotel staff entered his room and discovered his body. The Vancouver Police Department stated that the cause of death was not immediately apparent, but foul play was ruled out. An autopsy was completed on July 15, 2013. Autopsy and toxicological results were released by the BC Coroners Service on July 16, 2013. The Coroner stated that Monteith died from "a mixed drug toxicity" consisting of heroin, combined with alcohol, and that his death appeared to have been accidental. Monteith was privately cremated in Vancouver, Canada.