While I’m aware that ‘Glee’ may not be the most popular show among readers of this blog, I should hope we can all agree that the shocking death of star Cory Monteith this weekend at the far-too-young age of only 31 is truly sad and depressing news.

For four seasons, Monteith played the dim-witted but good-hearted jock Finn Hudson on Fox’s smash hit musical ‘Glee’. His character was often the victim of some of the show’s dopiest storylines. In the first season, Finn believed that he’d miraculously gotten his girlfriend Quinn pregnant even though they’d never actually had sex. More recently, the writers strained to find excuses to keep him on the series even after the character graduated, by bringing him back to high school as the new Glee Club teacher (despite having no degree in education or any teaching experience). Nevertheless, Finn’s on/off relationship with Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) was the backbone of much of the show’s narrative.

Monteith was among neither the best actors nor singers to appear on the series (it’s not unfair to say that he fell on the lower rung of both categories), but he had a genuinely likeable and endearing screen presence. In addition to ‘Glee’, he’d also appeared in episodes of shows like ‘Smallville’, ‘Supernatural’, ‘Stargate SG-1’ and ‘Kyle XY’, as well as in the movies ‘Final Destination 3’, ‘The Invisible’ and ‘Monte Carlo’. Prior to his death, he’d finished filming an indie dramedy called ‘All the Wrong Reasons’.

On Saturday, the actor was discovered dead in a hotel room in Vancouver, Canada by staff after he missed his check-out time. Although a cause of death has not yet been announced, Monteith had a history of substance addiction problems for which he entered rehab this past spring.

[Source: CBS News]