Mark Wayne Salling (; August 17, 1982 – January 30, 2018) was an American actor and musician known for his role as Noah "Puck" Puckerman on the television series ''

Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

''. Salling studied at the

Los Angeles College of Music Los Angeles College of Music (LACM, formerly LAMA College for Music Professionals) is a private for-profit music college in Pasadena, in Los Angeles County, California. It has been accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music ...

before working as a guitar teacher. He also worked as an occasional actor, appearing in '' Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering'' (1996) and '' The Graveyard'' (2006) before gaining a recurring role in ''Glee'' in 2009. Initially a regular character, from the fifth season he was reduced to a recurring guest star role. On the show, he soloed and dueted on cover versions of various songs. Pursuing a music career, he established his own label, Pipe Dreams Records, in partnership with

Fontana Distribution Fontana Distribution was a division of San Francisco-based Isolation Network (now owned by the Virgin Music Group unit of the Universal Music Group since 2019). A minority stake of the company was owned by Universal Music until INgrooves acquire ...

. On this label he released an album, ''Pipe Dreams'', in 2010. In 2015, Salling was arrested for the possession of

child pornography Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a ...

. In 2017, he pleaded guilty to the charges as part of a plea deal. He died by suicide on January 30, 2018, before a sentencing hearing scheduled for March 7.

Early life and education

Salling was born in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, the younger of two children to John Robert Salling Jr., an accountant, and Condy Sue Salling (née Wherry), a school secretary. He was home-schooled at an early age. He attended, but did not graduate from,

Culver Military Academy Culver Academies is a college preparatory boarding school located in Culver, Indiana, which is composed of three entities: Culver Military Academy (CMA) for boys, Culver Girls Academy (CGA), and the Culver Summer Schools and Camps (CSSC). Culver ...

and later graduated from

Lake Highlands High School Lake Highlands High School (LHHS) is a secondary school serving grades 9-12 in the Lake Highlands area of northeastern Dallas, Texas, United States, primarily serving the Lake Highlands community. The school is part of the Richardson Independent Sc ...

in 2001. While in high school, he was a member of the school

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

team. After graduating from high school, Salling attended the

Los Angeles Music Academy College of Music Los Angeles College of Music (LACM, formerly LAMA College for Music Professionals) is a private for-profit music college in Pasadena, in Los Angeles County, California. It has been accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music ...

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

and began studying guitar, giving guitar lessons to make a living.

Career

Music

Salling sang, wrote, and produced his own music under the name Jericho. He also played the piano, guitar, bass guitar, and drums. Jericho's debut album ''Smoke Signals'' was released on February 8, 2008 by Jericho Records. On October 25, 2010, Salling released a rock/jazz album, ''Pipe Dreams'', which was inspired by

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...

, Nine Inch Nails,

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

, and

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

. It was released by Pipe Dreams Records, Salling's own label, in partnership with

. He was the composer, performer, and producer of each track. The first single, "Higher Power", premiered on August 10, 2010. On the television show ''

'', he soloed and dueted on cover versions of various songs, including " Sweet Caroline", "

Only the Good Die Young "Only the Good Die Young" is a song from Billy Joel's 1977 rock album '' The Stranger''. It was the third of four singles released from the album. Song information "Only the Good Die Young" was controversial for its time, with the lyrics written ...

", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "

Run Joey Run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

", " Beth", "

Just Give Me a Reason "Just Give Me a Reason" is a song recorded by American singer Pink featuring Nate Ruess of the band Fun. The song was chosen as the third single from Pink's sixth studio album, '' The Truth About Love'' (2012). Written alongside producer Jeff Bh ...

", "

Good Vibrations "Good Vibrations" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys that was composed by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Mike Love. It was released as a single on October 10, 1966 and was an immediate critical and commercial hit, topping record ...

", and "

Fat Bottomed Girls "Fat Bottomed Girls" is a song by the British rock band Queen. Written by guitarist Brian May, the song appears on the band's seventh studio album ''Jazz'' (1978) and later on their compilation album ''Greatest Hits''. When released as a single ...

". During filming, Salling paid tribute to the cast of ''

'' by writing a song and creating a video titled "Chillin' on Glee'", which featured various cast and crew members.

Acting

Salling acted in '' Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering'' (1996) and '' The Graveyard'' (2006). In 2008, he was cast as Noah "Puck" Puckerman on the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

series ''

''. On June 28, 2013, it was reported that Salling would not be returning as a regular on ''Glee'' fifth season, but would instead be a recurring guest star on the series.

Personal life

Salling dated ''Glee'' co-star

Naya Rivera Naya Marie Rivera (; January 12, 1987July 8, 2020) was an American actress, singer, and model. Recognized for her work on the popular musical comedy-drama series ''Glee'', she received various awards, including a Screen Actors Guild Award and ...

from 2007 to 2010, and ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'' model DJ Roxanne Dawn from 2010 to 2011. He resided in

Shadow Hills, Los Angeles Shadow Hills (originally Hansen Heights) is a neighborhood in the Verdugo Mountains and northeastern San Fernando Valley, within the city of Los Angeles, California. Geography Shadow Hills is in the northwestern Verdugo Mountains, near the western ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Salling was a long-time member of the Echo Park Ornithology Club in Los Angeles, and even penned their theme song. The president and founder of the organization said that Salling "really enjoyed

birdwatching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, b ...

a lot, and he really cared about birds... he had a lot of animals at his house and he worked at an animal rescue when I knew him. We went birdwatching together."

Legal issues

Sexual assault charges

In January 2013, Salling's ex-girlfriend Roxanne Gorzela accused him of committing sexual battery on March 25, 2011, by having unprotected sex without knowledge that it was unprotected. He denied the charges and filed a counter-suit for defamation of character. In March 2015, Salling settled with Gorzela out of court and agreed to pay her $2.7 million.

Child pornography charges

On December 29, 2015, Salling was arrested at his

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

home on suspicion of possessing several thousand photos and videos depicting child pornography, following a tip-off to the police from one of his ex-girlfriends. He was released later on $20,000 bail, but a search warrant found more than 50,000 images of child pornography, downloaded between April and December 2015, on his computer and

USB flash drive A USB flash drive (also called a thumb drive) is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. It is typically removable, rewritable and much smaller than an optical disc. Most weigh less than . Since firs ...

s. On May 27, 2016, he was charged with receiving and possessing child pornography. As a result of the charges, Salling was removed from the cast of

Adi Shankar Aditya Shankar (born January 8, 1985) is an Indian-American film producer, screenwriter, film director, television program creator, television showrunner, and occasional actor. He is best known for ''Dredd'', '' Castlevania'', and his " Boot ...

's film ''Gods and Secrets''. On September 30, 2017, he pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography, which was expected to result in Salling being sentenced to four to seven years in jail, in addition to registering as a sex offender and entering a treatment program, among other conditions. The guilty plea was formalized on December 18, 2017, and Salling's sentencing date was set for March 7, 2018.

Death

Salling died by

suicide by hanging Suicide by hanging is the intentional killing of oneself (suicide) via suspension from an anchor-point such as an overhead beam or hook, by a rope or cord or by jumping from a height with a noose around the neck. Hanging is often considered t ...

on January 30, 2018, near his home in the Sunland area of

. His body was found six hours after he was reported missing. The manner of his death was confirmed by the Los Angeles coroner's office, and death ruled a suicide.

Filmography

Film

Television

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Salling, Mark 1982 births 2018 deaths 2018 suicides 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American composers 21st-century American criminals 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American singers American acoustic guitarists American bass guitarists American male bass guitarists American male child actors American male composers American male criminals American male drummers American male film actors American male guitarists American male pianists American male singer-songwriters American male television actors American multi-instrumentalists American people convicted of child pornography offenses Criminals from Texas Culver Academies alumni Guitarists from Texas Male actors from Dallas Musicians from Dallas Record producers from Texas Singer-songwriters from Texas Suicides by hanging in California Missing person cases in California 2010s missing person cases