The Unhappy Ending for the Cast of ‘Glee’

Was the show cursed? Or was it just time to change the tune?

Screenshot from ‘Glee’ performance of ‘I Say a Little Prayer’

From 2009 to 2015, Glee was one of the most popular shows on prime-time television. It followed the fictitious lives of high school misfits that found their true voices in a singing club, led by a charismatic teacher who helped the kids shine.

But while the show had a cheerful vibe—and was relatable to former high school geeks like me—a dark shadow fell across the award-winning production. Lady Misfortune whacked several cast members across the head with her stick, some harder than others.

Cory Monteith played Finn Hudson, a popular football quarterback at William McKinley High School who discovered his sensitive side while singing beautiful ballads like this one:

Believe it or not, the cast did their own singing, although you can guess from the above sample that it was likely pre-recorded and mastered for the TV spots.

While Finn was an inspiring character, showing even jocks can be vulnerable and express themselves artistically, Monteith struggled behind the scenes with substance abuse. He checked into rehab and was written out of the show, but unfortunately it didn’t end well—the Canadian actor died of an overdose on July 13, 2013 at the age of 31.

Deaths by drowning and despair

Monteith was not the only actor of the Glee cast that would meet their real-life demise. Naya Rivera, who played the character of Santana Lopez, tragically drowned in July 2020.

She was reportedly pontooning with her four-year-old son at the time, and she apparently helped him back onto the craft before disappearing below the surface.

It took five days to find her body, on the anniversary of Monteith’s death. It was almost like a silent tribute to him, although some people pointed out she suffered from vertigo and the timing was just a coincidence. However, she also reportedly refused to put on a life jacket before venturing out.

But even before Rivera’s drowning incident on January 30, 2018, another member of the cast perished. Mark Salling played a tough-guy football player named Noah Puckerman, eventually drawn in by the charm of the glee club.

But in real life, the actor was facing charges for possession of pornography involving minors, and was just weeks away from sentencing. The coroner’s office said he hung himself after pleading guilty to the offences—investigators found more than 25,000 images on his devices depicting underage porn, which would’ve landed him in jail for several years and registered him as a sex offender.

There was another death associated with the show, but isn’t talked about as much. Matt Bendik was the boyfriend of Glee’s Becca Tobin (who played cheerleader Kitty Wilde), found dead without official cause in a hotel room in July 2014—almost a year to the day that Monteith died.

Monteith was the real-life boyfriend of Glee star Lea Michele (more on her soon), also found dead in a hotel room.

Tales of abuse haunt surviving cast members

But the actual deaths are just part of the story. Matthew Morrison, who played the popular teacher Will Schuester that led the Glee club (renaming it to “New Directions”), committed a form of career suicide during his time on the judging panel of So You Think You Can Dance.

He was fired from the panel after he reportedly was messaging with a young woman competing on the dance show. Although there was no physical sex, he apparently sent inappropriate messages that led to the woman reporting him to producers.

Morrison was a judge alongside former contestant Stephen Boss (known as “tWitch” in the dance world) who took his own life in December 2022. That loss in particular rocked me, as Boss was always positive on set and was loved by the performance community (and his young family.)

Other misfortunes befell Glee cast members: Melissa Benoist (Marley Rose on the show) later revealed she had endured years of abuse at the hands of a domestic partner, while playing Supergirl in a TV series.

Michele played Rachel Berry, a Glee member that wanted so badly to make it to Broadway—a goal she accomplishes, as revealed in the final episode of the show.

Yeah, that’s Kate Hudson in that clip, and we don’t need to explain how good her film career has been. By the way, in my opinion Hudson’s best role ever was in 200 Cigarettes, followed closely by her iconic role in Almost Famous.

Anyhow, I found Michele to be a bit “over the top” in Glee, and some of her castmates agree she was a pain in the butt on set—acting like a diva, and maybe even a bully.

But the actress did actually make it to Broadway, currently starring as Fanny Brice in the Broadway’s latest rendition of Funny Girl.

Dianna Agron played Quinn Fabray, the head cheerleader at the high school that joins the Glee squad. She is the popular “queen bee,” who later becomes pregnant and tells her boyfriend Finn he’s the dad despite never having sex (it was actually Puckerman’s kid.)

Agron went on to star in feature films including one called Bare, about lesbian romance, stripping, and drugs.

Heather Morris, who played the earnest but dim-witted cheerleader Brittany Pierce, also has a long list of credits to her name since her role on Glee. She left the show as a regular after season 4 when the real-life actress became pregnant—but it wasn’t her final appearance.

‘Glee’ is also a success story, although a short one

As for the rest of the former cast of Glee, it’s not all bad news. Chris Colfer played Kurt Hummel, a hero for gay youth during the show’s run, and winner of a Golden Globe in 2010. He made appearances on other shows afterwards, including the sitcom Hot in Cleveland alongside the legendary Betty White, and appears to be in two upcoming productions according to IMDb.

Kevin McHale, who had a boy-band background and played wheelchair-bound Artie Abrams, has also appeared in several shows since. McHale previously made a now-famous cameo in The Office as the delivery kid who was held prisoner by Michael Scott over a pizza debt.

Jane Lynch played the antagonist teacher Sue Sylvester on Glee, constantly trying to shut down the singing group’s fun. She of course is still going strong, with a recurring role on Only Murders in the Building and others.

Glee was fun to watch to see which songs they’d tackle each episode. I wouldn’t say it was one of my all-time fave shows, but it was definitely entertaining, and I understood the appeal. It was a message to young people who felt like they needed a place to belong.

In fact, during my reporting days I even wrote about a real-life glee club at a Toronto high school, although some of the boys admitted they sang just to be near the girls. Either way, this was a good group of kids that sounded great and could dance, too.

But the show itself died a premature death due to the misfortunes of the cast members. If they had not died or left the production, it could’ve had a much longer run. But as they say, the show must go on—and for some of the former cast members, it is.

For the unlucky others, well… we can always catch the reruns.