Best known for his role as Noah "Puck" Puckerman on the hit series Glee, actor Mark Salling died by suicide on January 30, 2018 while facing prison time for possessing child pornography.
Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions and/or images of violent, disturbing, or otherwise potentially distressing events.
Kristin Dos Santos/Wikimedia CommonsMark Salling at a Glee premiere party in 2009.
In 2008, actor and musician Mark Salling was catapulted to stardom while starring as football jock-turned-choir-star Noah “Puck” Puckerman on the hit Fox series Glee. But fame would come at a huge cost for Salling, who soon became embroiled in a number of highly publicized criminal cases.
In 2011, one of Salling’s ex-girlfriends sued him for sexual battery and assault. And two years later, Salling was arrested for possessing child pornography after police discovered thousands of disturbing images and videos in his California home.
Salling eventually pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography. But in January 2018, just a few weeks before the disgraced actor was set to be sentenced for these charges, Mark Salling died by suicide at age 35.
That day, Salling joined a growing list of Glee stars and crew members who died tragically young, including his co-stars Cory Monteith and Naya Rivera — fueling rumors that the show was cursed.
The Makings Of A Television Star
Mark Salling was born in Dallas, Texas in 1982 to a devout Christian family. Homeschooled from an early age, Salling went on to attend Culver Military Academy. He later graduated from Lake Highlands High School in 2001. There, much like his Glee character, he juggled athletics and the arts, competing on the wrestling team and performing in talent shows.
A talented musician, Salling moved to California after high school to study guitar at the Los Angeles Music Academy College of Music. He supported himself by giving guitar lessons.
X/Mark SallingMark Salling composed and produced his own music.
Salling wrote, recorded, and produced his own music under the stage name “Jericho.” A versatile musician, he not only sang but also played the piano, guitar, bass guitar, and drums. Jericho’s debut album, Smoke Signals, was released in 2008. Two years later, Salling released a rock album titled Pipe Dreams on his own label, Pipe Dreams Records.
Meanwhile, Salling was also pursuing an acting career. He had made his acting debut in the 1996 film Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering, and went on to play the role of “Eric” in the slasher film The Graveyard in 2006.
Then, in 2008, Salling landed the role of a lifetime as football jock Noah “Puck” Puckerman on the Fox series Glee. Introduced as a stereotypical high school bully, Puck slowly won fans over when he joined the Glee club and began to show his more sensitive side.
Despite his growing fame, Salling reportedly remained modest about his career in his private life. While living in Los Angeles, Salling joined the Echo Park Ornithology Club and even wrote the group’s theme song. The club’s president and founder, Stephi Duckula, said she initially didn’t even know Salling was an actor on Glee because he never mentioned it.
“He never said anything about it,” Duckula said, according to a 2018 PEOPLE article. “He just came in and sang and hung out with us and watched birds with us.” According to Duckula, Salling remained an active member of the club throughout his years playing Puck.
Mark Salling’s Tumultuous Relationships With Women
Facebook/Mark SallingMark Salling poses with his Glee co-stars Darren Criss, Lea Michele, and Chord Overstreet.
In 2007, Mark Salling began dating his Glee co-star Naya Rivera, who played Santana on the show. The stars dated on and off until 2010, when Salling abruptly broke things off with Rivera. In her 2016 memoir, Sorry Not Sorry, Rivera claimed Salling had ended their relationship after receiving advice from his publicist that being single would be better for his image.
“When Mark dumped me, I thought it was the worst thing ever,” she wrote. “Everyone should have that one relationship where you look back and ask yourself, ‘What the hell was I thinking?'”
Salling wouldn’t stay single for long. He began dating Playboy model Roxanne Gorzela in 2010. However, their relationship soured in March 2011, when Gorzela claims Salling forced her to have unprotected sex.
According to Gorzela, she went to Salling’s house on March 15 to confront him about the incident. There, she found him in bed with another woman. Enraged, Gorzela demanded he provide her with proof that he had no STDs. In response, Gorzela claimed, Salling grabbed her and violently pushed her to the ground.
In January 2013, Gorzela sued Salling for sexual battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligence.
“There is no truth to this,” Salling’s publicist, Janice Lee, told TMZ in 2013. “It’s the textbook case of a disgruntled girl looking to cash in on a TV star’s success.”
Salling countersued Gorzela for trespassing and assault. He claimed Gorzela barged into his house without permission on March 15, 2011 and started yelling, screaming, and hitting him before going outside and scratching up his car.
In the end, the law was on Gorzela’s side; she won a settlement of $2.7 million in 2015.
But Mark Salling’s legal troubles were far from over.
A Glee Star Is Arrested For Possessing Child Pornography
X/Mark SallingMark Salling playing guitar with his Glee co-star, Darren Criss.
In 2015, one of Mark Salling’s ex-girlfriends alerted the police that the actor had illegal content on his personal computers. The LAPD’s Internet Crimes Against Children unit obtained a search warrant for Salling’s home in Sunland, California, and on Dec. 29, 2015, Salling was arrested for possessing child pornography.
Officers discovered more than 25,000 images and 600 videos depicting child pornography on Salling’s computers and thumb drives — including content with children as young as three years old.
When news of the scandal broke, Salling’s reputation was seemingly tarnished beyond repair. On May 27, 2016, Salling was officially indicted on child pornography charges. Shortly after, the actor was fired from the miniseries Gods and Secrets.
While the news stunned many of those who knew Salling, Naya Rivera wrote in her memoir that she wasn’t shocked to hear of her ex-boyfriend’s arrest.
“He was always just a very dark soul to me,” she told ET in 2016. “I always felt like there was something that he was wrestling with.”
In October 2017, Mark Salling pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography involving a prepubescent minor. He was expected to receive a prison sentence of four to seven years.
As part of the deal, he would have had to register as a sex offender, complete a treatment program, avoid any contact with children under 18, remain at least 100 feet away from schools, parks, public swimming pools, youth centers, playgrounds, and arcades, and pay $50,000 in restitution to each victim. His sentencing date was scheduled for March 7, 2018.
He wouldn’t live to see it.
Mark Salling’s Death Sparks Rumors Of A Glee Curse
In the early morning hours of Jan. 30, 2018, Mark Salling removed the tracking device he was required to wear during his house arrest and fled his California home. Concerned family members reported him missing at 3 a.m. after they discovered that Salling and his car had vanished.
Later that day, firefighters and police officers responded to reports of a body found near the Los Angeles River in Sunland, not far from Salling’s home. There, they found the actor hanging near the riverbed.
At the age of 35, Mark Salling had died by suicide. He was just one month away from his sentencing.
WENN Rights Ltd / Alamy Stock PhotoMark Salling died by suicide near a creek close to his home in Sun Valley.
Chillingly, Salling is just one of eight people connected to Glee who have died tragically young, including five crew members and three leading cast members. In 2013, actor Cory Monteith died from an accidental drug overdose. In 2020, two years after Mark Salling died by suicide, his ex-girlfriend Naya Rivera tragically drowned while rescuing her son from a lake in California.
And as more and more disturbing stories have emerged from behind the scenes of the hit musical series over the years, these tragedies have fueled rumors of a Glee curse.
The Aftermath Of Mark Salling’s Death
Mark Salling was widely condemned for his crimes, and particularly for his child pornography charges. Still, for many of those who knew him, his death was an unspeakable tragedy.
Brad Ellis, the piano player on Glee, noted that while he didn’t excuse Salling’s crimes, he was shocked to hear of Mark Salling’s death.
“The side that he chose to show us, me and those that weren’t that close to him on set, was affable and sweet and patient and hardworking,” Ellis told PEOPLE in 2018. “Very rarely would there be a glimpse of anything that could possibly be as dark as what led to the end of his life.”
Salling’s attorney, Michael Proctor, said that after the actor pleaded guilty to child pornography charges, he had been “focused on accepting responsibility and attempting to atone for his conduct.”
“Mark was a gentle and loving person, a person of great creativity, who was doing his best to atone for some serious mistakes and errors of judgment,” Proctor told PEOPLE in 2018.
Still, Mark Salling’s death meant that those he harmed would not see justice. Although the victims in his child pornography case were set to be awarded $50,000 in restitution as part of his plea deal, they were unable to receive it because Salling died before he could be sentenced.
After learning about Mark Salling’s death, read about the tragic death of EDM star Avicii. Then, read about how teen heartthrob Jonathan Brandis died by suicide after experiencing a lull in his career.
If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or use their 24/7 Lifeline Crisis Chat.
