Glee Co-stars pay jarring tributes to actor Mark Salling

Mark Salling’s co-stars from Glee paid tribute to the convicted pedophile after he hanged himself early on Tuesday.

‘Having compassion for #MarkSallingin no way minimizes his crimes, nor does it minimize the pain and devastation of the victims of those crimes,’ the show’s former vocal coordinator Tim Davis tweeted.  The message was quickly re-tweeted or favorited by multiple Glee actors. 

His other co-stars followed suit as the day went on. 

Matthew Morrison, who  played Will Schuester or ‘Mr Schue’ on the popular musical television show posted a jarring photo of himself flanked by Salling and Cory Monteith.

He captioned the sad photo with three emojis, two angels flanking a sad face – in a clear tribute to the two stars who have now passed. Monteith died in 2013 of an overdose. 

And Jane Lynch said she was struggling with Salling’s death in an interview withTMZ Tuesday afternoon. The 57-year-old who played head cheer coach Sue Sylvester called the incident ‘tragic,’ and said she is ‘broken hearted.’

When she was asked how she would remember Salling, Lynch paused and appeared to choke on her words for a moment, before picking a charming memory of the actor during his early days on Glee. 

‘As the guy who made that really sweet video in the beginning of Glee when he was so happy to be a part of this group,’ she told reporters.  

Iqbal Theba, who played Principal Thiggins on Glee, also posted a tribute to the actor in a series of tweets. 

He first dismally wrote: ‘Oh Mark,’ before later following up with a photo of the cast at the 2010 SAG awards and the message: ‘At #SAGAWARDS on @GLEEonFOX after we won. 1st season #MarkSalling with Cory.’ He also added a broken heart emoji. 

Salling’s body was found ‘hanging from a tree’ near a little league baseball field close to his Sunland home in Los Angeles, California on Tuesday morning. He was 35 at the time of his death. 

‘Having compassion for #MarkSallingin no way minimizes his crimes, nor does it minimize the pain and devastation of the victims of those crimes,’ the show’s former vocal coordinator Tim Davis tweeted. The message was quickly re-tweeted or favorited by multiple Glee actors

Matthew Morrison who plays Will Schuester or ‘Mr Schue’ on the popular musical television show posted a jarring photo of himself flanked by Salling and Cory Monteith. He captioned the sad photo with three emojis, two angels flanking a sad face – in a clear tribute to the two stars who have now passed

Jane Lynch, pictured with Salling in 2011, told TMZ the incident is ‘tragic,’ and said she is ‘broken hearted’

The disgraced actor’s body is removed from the scene by coroners and members of the LAPD

Half a dozen officers assisted as the body was put inside the coroner’s van. The official cause of death has not yet been revealed but it is believed the disgraced star hanged himself

The actor’s body was found in a dried up river bed, through a wooded area close to a little league baseball field in Los Angeles, California on Tuesday. Pictured, police tape ropes of the scene where Salling was found

Journalists view the spot where  Salling, who played Noah ‘Puck’ Puckerman in the hit musical-comedy ‘Glee,’ was found dead in a remote area of Big Tujunga Canyon

Salling’s black Nissan Infiniti was parked at the side of the road, near the riverbed where he was found

Actor Justin Sorvillo wrote on Twitter that regardless of anyone’s opinions of Salling in the wake of his child pornography charges, ‘no one deserves to feel the helplessness of being driven to suicide.’

‘Respect the dead,’ he concluded.   

Salling’s family had reported the actor missing earlier on Tuesday morning, fearing he was planning to hurt himself.

According to the police dispatch audio, first obtained by The Blast, the police said that Salling ‘suffers from depression and is suicidal.’

The dispatcher says that the missing star was last seen around 11.30pm, wearing black pants and a black long sleeved T-shirt. Concerned what he might do, one of his family members had visited a police station at 3am this morning. Sadly it was too late. 

‘I can confirm that Mark Salling passed away early this morning,’ his family said in a statement to The Blast.

‘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. He is survived by his mother and father, and his brother. The Salling family appreciates the support they have been receiving and asks for their privacy to be respected.’ 

Salling was awaiting sentencing after entering a guilty plea to possession of child pornography.  

The LAPD were alerted to the body by a 911 call at 8.50am, TMZ reports. 

The fire department reportedly found Salling ‘hanging from a tree’ near a little league field next to the Big Tujunga Creek, which is close to the actor’s home.

He had been dead some time.

His body has since been removed from he scene while officials carry out their investigation. His black, Nissan Infiniti remains parked at the side of the road, surrounded by police cruisers.

Assistant chief coroner Ed Winter confirmed to that Salling was pronounced dead at the scene at 9am.

‘I heard it was hanging,’ he told DailyMail.com. ‘It’s reported as a suicide and the investigation is ongoing. A full autopsy is pending.’

Winter confirmed the autopsy would take place within the next two days. 

Salling was photographed wearing the same clothes he wore for weeks back in October, while he was out buying cigarettes and soda at his local 7-11 store 

Authorities were reportedly tipped off by one of Salling’s ex-girlfriends and he was arrested in December 2015 before being released on $20,000 bail (Pictured, left to right: Max Adler as Dave (center) and Salling as Puck on Glee in March 2015)

Matthew Morrison, (center) who starred as Will Schuester in Glee, shared a photo of himself with Salling (right) and Cory Monteith (left) who died from a drugs overdose. He captioned the photo with three emoji faces; two angels – one for Salling and one for Monteith – and a sad face for himself

Tim Davis, a vocal contractor and vocal arranger for Glee, tweeted that he ‘loved Mark’ and was ‘sad’ about his death

Jane Lynch, who played Sue Sylvester, then retweeted his second message, saying that Salling’s suicide did not minimize his crimes, but implored people to ‘stop adding to (Sallings’) family’s pain’

Paris Barclay, a Glee producer, added: ‘It’s a painful loss, again. Two young actors, lost too soon. RIP #marksalling’

Meanwhile the LAPD and volunteers from the Mayor’s Crisis Response Team, were spotted at his Sunland home where he’d been living before his death.

The three ladies, wearing light blue t-shirts bearing the team’s logo, were escorted into the property by the female officer and let inside by an occupant of the home.

According to the CRT website, the volunteers ‘provide immediate on-scene crisis intervention, act as a liaison between the victim and emergency personnel and give referrals to victims and their families affected by a death, a violent crime or other traumatic incidents.

‘These incidents include homicides, suicides, traffic fatalities, officer involved shooting, death notification, infant deaths, natural deaths and multi-casualty incidents.’ 

The body of Mark Salling is carried from a dry river bed near Sunland, wrapped in a yellow carry case 

After being carried through the bushes, the corpse is placed on a stretcher 

The body and stretcher was then covered in an LA County Coroner bag 

Half a dozen officers assisted as the body was wheeled round to the coroner’s van

Neighbors said they had seen Salling come and go in recent weeks, making trips to a local 7/11 for groceries.

The actor made a suicide attempt last summer, when he cut both of his wrists, according to a report.

Salling is said to have ‘freaked out’ after hurting himself on August 22.

He is thought to have been taken to hospital after paramedics treated him in his Los Angeles home. According to TMZ, he had screamed for his roommate after cutting his wrists.  The roommate then called 911 and helped him. 

Salling’s car remains parked just in front of the van while police investigate the scene

The coroners van which will transport Salling’s body to the coroner’s office. The actor took his own life while awaiting sentencing on child pornography charges

The actor was reportedly taken to be treated for psychological problems after he recovered. 

Salling’s career came crashing down in 2015 after he was arrested for possession of child porn in 2015. 

Investigators found he ‘downloaded thousands of images of child pornography’ between April and December 2015.

The papers state he used software to mask his IP address, but twice showed some of his collection to an adult woman, who ultimately reported him to police.

Following the tip-off, Salling was arrested at his home in Sunland, California, where police found a cache of explicit images on his computer depicting children as young as 10 in sexual situations. They later discovered more than 50,000 photos and videos on his laptop and another 4,000 on a flash drive. 

The actor was originally facing a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars after being charged with two counts of child pornography last year.

Salling took a plea deal in December, where he pleaded guilty to possessing images of prepubescent children between the ages of three and five. Prosecutors in response, agreed to ask the judge to sentence him to between four and seven years in jail.

At the time of the hearing, he told the judge he was on medication for depression.

Former Glee star Mark Salling in court in December where he pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography. It’s the last time he would be seen in public

Prosecutors and Salling (arriving at court in December) agreed to ask a judge to sentence the actor to between four to seven years in prison

Authorities were reportedly tipped off by one of Salling’s ex-girlfriends and he was arrested in December 2015 (pictured ducking down in the passenger seat of a car as he leaves jail after being arrested for possession of child pornography)

The 35-year-old would also have been required to register as a sex offender, pay restitution and abide by residency restrictions.

That would have meant he was banned from coming within 100 feet of schoolyards, parks, public swimming pools, playgrounds and video arcade venues; and cannot speak to children under the age of 18 without their parents or guardians present.  

Authorities were reportedly tipped off by one of Salling’s ex-girlfriends and he was arrested in December 2015 before being released on $20,000 bail. 

Lieutenant Andrea Grossman, commander of the LAPD Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, said at the time: ‘It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, if you hurt a child you will be held accountable.’

She added: ‘These images are more than photographs, they are child abuse.’ 

He is the second major actor from the popular series to have died at a young age. 

His costar Cory Monteith died from a drugs overdose in his Vancouver hotel room in March 2013. The actor, who had a history of substance abuse as a teen, was just 31 years old. 

the LAPD and volunteers from the Mayor’s Crisis Response Team, were spotted at his Sunland home where he’d been living before his death (pictured)  

The modest one-storey property, in Sunland, California, where Salling lived after his arrest

The actor’s body was found on Tuesday near a little league baseball field, next to the Big Tujunga Creek (pictured is the scene where Salling was found)

Salling reportedly hanged himself next to the creek, adjacent to a little league baseball field

The entrance to the field, which is close to Big Tujunga Creek which runs through LA

The coroner found he died of a toxic combination of heroin and alcohol, and ruled that his death was an ‘accidental overdose’. 

The actor’s death has been met with a mixed response on social media with some expressing sadness at his loss, and others celebrating the death of someone convicted of possessing child porn.

Matthew Morrison, who starred as Will Schuester in Glee, shared a photo of himself with Salling and Monteith, and captioned the photo with three emoji faces; a sad face for himself, an angel for Monteith and, rather surprisingly, an angel for Salling. 

Tim Davis, a vocal contractor and vocal arranger for Glee, tweeted that he ‘loved Mark’ and was ‘sad’ about his death.

Actress Jane Lynch, who played Sue Sylvester in the series, then retweeted his second message, which explained that Salling’s suicide did not ‘minimize his crimes’, but implored people to ‘stop adding to (Sallings’) family’s pain’

Glee producer Paris Barclay‏ added: ‘It’s a painful loss, again. Two young actors, lost too soon. RIP #marksalling.’

Salling was previously sued by his ex-girlfriend Roxanne Gorzela for sexual battery.

Gorzela claimed that he forced her to have unprotected sex with him and later, when she confronted him over his actions, Salling allegedly pushed her to the ground and caused injury to her knees.

It was reported that the case was settled midway through trial after Gorzela dropped the sexual battery claim. 

Salling was previously sued by his ex-girlfriend Roxanne Gorzela (right) for sexual battery

In 2011, he ended his fling with Gorzela before their legal issues began. In 2014 he was linked to another co-star Lea Michele (pictured with him in 2009)

In 2008 he was then in a relationship with co-star Naya Rivera, who plays Santana Lopez. In 2010 the relationship soured, and she was accused of egging his house and keying his Lexus in a jealous rage

 However the relationship never flourished. More recently he dated 19-year-old Big Time Rush actress Denyse Tontz, but the two broke up some time last year

Salling admitted to negligently causing her to fall and injure herself. She is not believed to have been the woman who tipped off the authorities. 

The pair settled the case for a reported $2.7million when Salling admitted to causing her to fall and injure herself through negligence. 

Salling shot to fame playing Noah ‘Puck’ Puckerman in the hit FOX series Glee. He first appeared in 2008 and was a regular until season five.  

Salling was born in Dallas, Texas, and was reportedly home-schooled in a ‘strict Christian home’.

He attended Providence Christian School and Our Redeemer Lutheran elementary schools, and after graduating from a high school, he travelled to California and attended Los Angeles Music Academy College of Music in Pasadena, California and began studying guitar. He gave guitar lessons to make a living.

His first acting role was in Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering (1996) with Naomi Watts. He also starred in The Graveyard in 2006.

Salling (right, in 2009) is the second major actor from Glee to have died at a young age. His costar Cory Monteith (left) died from a drugs overdose in his Vancouver hotel room in March 2013 

The actor (pictured, left and right, on Glee) reached a plea agreement with prosecutors in October. The agreement states a search warrant found more than 50,000 images of child porn on Salling’s computer and a thumb drive downloaded between April 2015 and December 2015

The Texas native has been romantically linked to many celebrities, including some of his co-stars on the musical show.

In 2008, he dated former The Hills star Audrina Partridge, but the relationship appeared to die out.

He was then in a relationship with co-star Naya Rivera, who plays Santana Lopez. In 2010 the relationship soured, and she was accused of egging his house and keying his Lexus in a jealous rage.

In 2011, he ended his fling with Gorzela before their legal issues began. In 2014 he was spotted at Cochella music festival with another co-star Lea Michele.

However the relationship never flourished. More recently he dated 19-year-old Big Time Rush actress Denyse Tontz, but the two broke up some time last year.

If you are concerned about any issues involving suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1-800-273-8255.