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Mark Salling | |
|---|---|
 Salling in 2009 | |
| Born | Mark Wayne Salling[1] (1982-08-17)August 17, 1982 |
| Died | January 30, 2018(2018-01-30) (aged 35) Los Angeles,California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Suicide by hanging |
| Education | Culver Military Academy Lake Highlands High School Los Angeles College of Music |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1996–2015 |
| Known for | Noah "Puck" Puckerman onGlee |
Mark Wayne Salling (/ˈsɔːlɪŋ/; August 17, 1982 – January 30, 2018)[2][3] was an American actor and musician known for his role asNoah "Puck" Puckerman on the television seriesGlee.[4]
Salling studied at theLos Angeles College of Music before working as a guitar teacher. He also worked as an occasional actor, appearing inChildren of the Corn IV: The Gathering (1996) andThe Graveyard (2006) before gaining a recurring role inGlee 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 withFontana Distribution. On this label he released an album,Pipe Dreams, in 2010.
In 2015, Salling was arrested for possession ofchild pornography.[5] In 2017, he pleaded guilty to the charges as part of a plea deal.[6] He died by suicide on January 30, 2018, before a sentencing hearing scheduled for March 7.[7][8][9]
Salling was born inDallas,Texas,[9] the younger of two children[8] to John Robert Salling Jr., an accountant,[10] and Condy Sue Salling (née Wherry), a school secretary.[8][11][12] He was home-schooled at an early age.[9] He attended, but did not graduate from,Culver Military Academy and later graduated fromLake Highlands High School in 2001. While in high school, he was a member of the schoolwrestling team.[13] After graduating from high school, Salling attended theLos Angeles Music Academy College of Music inPasadena, California and began studying guitar, giving guitar lessons to make a living.[14]
Salling sang, wrote, and produced his own music under the name Jericho. He also played the piano, guitar, bass guitar, and drums.[14] Jericho's debut albumSmoke Signals was released on February 8, 2008[15] by Jericho Records. On October 25, 2010, Salling released a rock/jazz album,Pipe Dreams, which was inspired byAlice in Chains,Nine Inch Nails,Miles Davis, andHerbie Hancock.[16] It was released by Pipe Dreams Records, Salling's own label, in partnership withFontana Distribution.[14] He was the composer, performer, and producer of each track.[14] The first single, "Higher Power", premiered on August 10, 2010.[17]
On the television showGlee, he soloed and dueted on cover versions of various songs, including "Sweet Caroline", "Only the Good Die Young", "The Lady Is a Tramp", "Run Joey Run", "Beth", "Just Give Me a Reason", "Good Vibrations", and "Fat Bottomed Girls".[18] During filming, Salling paid tribute to the cast ofGlee by writing a song and creating a video titled "Chillin' onGlee", which featured various cast and crew members.[19]
Salling acted inChildren of the Corn IV: The Gathering (1996) andThe Graveyard (2006). In 2008, he was cast asNoah "Puck" Puckerman on theFox seriesGlee. On June 28, 2013, it was reported that Salling would not be returning as a regular onGlee's fifth season, but would instead be a recurring guest star on the series.[20]
Salling datedGlee co-starNaya Rivera from 2007 to 2010, andPlayboy model DJ Roxanne Dawn from 2010 to 2011.[11] He resided inShadow Hills, Los Angeles,California.[21]
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 enjoyedbirdwatching 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."[22]
In January 2013, Salling's ex-girlfriend Roxanne Gorzela[8] accused him of committing sexual battery on March 25, 2011, by having unprotected sex without herknowing that it was unprotected.[23][24][25] He denied the charges and filed a counter-suit for defamation of character.[26] In March 2015, Salling settled with Gorzela out of court and agreed to pay her $2.7 million.[8][27]
On December 29, 2015, Salling was arrested at hisLos Angeles 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.[11][28][29][30] He was released later on $20,000 bail, but a search pursuant to a warrant found more than 50,000 images of child pornography, downloaded between April and December 2015, on his computer andUSB flash drives.[11]
On May 27, 2016, he was charged with receiving and possessing child pornography.[31] As a result of the charges, Salling was removed from the cast ofAdi Shankar's filmGods and Secrets, later renamedThe Guardians of Justice.[32]
On September 30, 2017, he pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography as part of a plea deal, which was expected to result in Salling being sentenced to four to seven years in jail, in addition to registering as asex offender and entering a treatment program, among other conditions. The guilty plea was formalized on December 18, 2017,[6] and Salling's sentencing date was set for March 7, 2018.[33]
Sallinghanged himself on January 30, 2018,[34] near his home in theSunland area ofLos Angeles. His body was found six hours after he was reported missing.[8][35][36] The manner of his death was confirmed by the Los Angeles coroner's office and his death was ruled asuicide.[34] He was cremated.[37] Because Salling's death preceded the date he was scheduled to report to prison to begin serving his sentence, the entire sentence was thrown out, and a restitution agreement of $50,000 to ten individuals who had been identified in his illicit holdings was deemed null and void.[38]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering[39] | James Rhodes | Direct-to-video |
| 2006 | The Graveyard[5] | Eric | Direct-to-video |
| 2011 | Glee: The 3D Concert Movie[40] | Noah "Puck" Puckerman/Himself |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Walker, Texas Ranger[41] | Billy | Episode: "Rise To The Occasion" |
| 2009–2015 | Glee[41] | Noah "Puck" Puckerman | Main role (seasons 1–4) Recurring role (seasons 5–6); 81 episodes[20] Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2009)[42] Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2010)[43] Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2011)[44] Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2012)[45] Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice TV: Breakout Star Male (2010)[46] Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Music: Group (2010) (shared withGlee Cast)[47] Nominated—Choice TV: Scene Stealer Male (2011)[48] |
| 2010 | The X Factor[49] | Himself | Special guest |
| 2011 | The Glee Project[50] | Himself | Episode: "Sexuality" |
| 2014 | Rocky Road[51] | Harrison Burke | TV movie |
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [52] | US Heat [53] | US Indie [54] | ||
| 2008 | Smoke Signals(released under stage name Jericho)
| — | — | — |
| 2010 | Pipe Dreams | 189 | 5 | 29 |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | ||||
| Year | Title | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | "Higher Power" | Pipe Dreams |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
