Glee star’s death ‘most tragic accident’

Autopsy confirms drug, alcohol overdose; family requests privacy

Glee star Cory Monteith died of an overdose involving heroin and alcohol, the B.C. Coroners Service has announced.

“Post-mortem testing, which included an autopsy and toxicological analysis, found that Mr. Monteith, aged 31, died of a mixed drug toxicity, involving heroin and alcohol,” says a release from the Coroners Service Tuesday afternoon.

“It should be noted that at this point there is no evidence to suggest Mr. Monteith’s death was anything other than a most-tragic accident,” the release says, although the investigation is ongoing.

Police had ruled out foul play in the death of the Victoria-raised actor who was found dead Saturday in his room at Vancouver’s Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel.

Staff at the hotel discovered Monteith’s body when he had failed to check out that morning as planned.

Monteith’s family has been informed of the coroner’s findings and are requesting privacy at this time.

Monteith had spoken publicly about his history as a troubled teen who battled drug and alcohol abuse, and his completion of a rehab program earlier this year.

‘I burned a lot of bridges. I was out of control. … I had a serious problem.’ CORY MONTEITH In a 2011 interview in Parade

Born in Calgary and raised in Victoria, Monteith became an idol and heartthrob for young fans in the role of Finn Hudson, the quarterback-turned on Glee, the popular Fox TV show about an underdog choir at an Ohio high school.

In contrast to his co-stars, who seemed born and bred to fame, Monteith was an unlikely success, a comeback kid who had hit rock bottom at 19.

In a 2011 interview in Parade magazine, Monteith said he was “lucky to be alive” after an adolescence that included drinking and smoking pot by age 13, dropping out of school at 16 and being forced into rehab after friends and family staged an intervention when he was 19.

“I burned a lot of bridges,” he told the magazine. “I was out of control.”

He also characterized his substance use as “anything and everything, as much as possible. I had a serious problem.”

He did the stint in rehab as a young adult, but went right back to his destructive pattern, even going so far as to steal “a significant amount of money from a family member,” he told Parade.

After that family member told him he had to get clean or face being reported to police, Monteith made changes.

He moved to Nanaimo, B.C., where he worked at odd jobs and discovered his passion for acting. He had several parts on Vancouver-shot TV series including Stargate and Supernatural before landing the Glee gig, driving 20 straight hours from Vancouver to Los Angeles for the audition.

The B.C. Coroners Service will release a full report when the investigation is complete.

A memorial with flowers and cards quickly sprang up near the hotel over the weekend, with fans, friends and at least one relative stopping by to mourn.

Industry Minister James Moore, who represents B.C. in cabinet, tweeted he hoped the “sad death” prompts “a discussion of the complex health issues of addiction and recovery.”

A candlelight vigil for Monteith is planned for this Friday outside the Fairmont Pacific Rim. Before the coroners’ announcement, invitations to the evening were spreading on websites and blogs across the Internet.

A separate vigil is also being planned over the Internet for friends and fans of the actor on Friday at Maple Leaf Square in Toronto.