Salling’s private life was quite different from his artistic persona.
His name might not ring a bell for many fans, but millions of fans remember the character he played on the hit TV series, Glee. Salling played the football-playing ‘Puck’ (Noah ‘Puck’ Puckerman), the friend of the team’s star quarterback, Finn Hudson (played by Cory Monteith).
Salling appeared in all seven seasons of the show. Along the way, he dated Naya Rivera, who played Santana Lopez on the program. He recorded two albums, Smoke Signals (2008) and Pipe Dreams (2010), was nominated for a Teen Choice Award, earned multiple awards as part of the Glee ensemble, and was named ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ in 2011.
That was Salling’s public life. His private life was quite different.
In 2013, Salling was confronted with a charge of sexual battery by a woman who claimed he forced her to have unprotected sex without her consent. Salling filed a lawsuit for defamation of character before settling out-of-court.
That same year he struggled with the death of his friend, Corey Monteith, who died from an overdose while on the road performing in Canada.
Two years later, Salling was arrested after police discovered videos/pictures characterized as child pornography. His trial began in 2017. Suicidal during this time, Salling eventually pled guilty to possession of child pornography with charges reduced through a plea deal. Still, he could have faced up to seven years of jail time and would have had to register as a sex offender, pay a fine, and complete a treatment program.
But not of that happened. Salling hanged himself in the woods at his home in January 2018. Salling was 35-years-old.
Two famous actors and personal friends, both of whom played football stars on a popular TV series, passed away within months of each other–one by way of a drug overdose, the other by suicide.
Mark Salling (left) and Cory Monteith portrayed football players in the hit series, Glee (photo by Joe Scarnici/FilmMagic for PEOPLE)
