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 may 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 3000 album) * ''Glee'' (Logan Lynn album) * Gle ...

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

child pornography Child pornography (also abbreviated as CP, also called child porn or kiddie porn, and child sexual abuse material, known by the acronym CSAM (underscoring that children can not be deemed willing participants under law)), is Eroticism, erotic ma ...

. 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 a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, 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 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 Independe ...

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

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

team. After graduating from high school, Salling attended the Los Angeles Music Academy College of Music in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, 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 commerci ...

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 formed in Seattle in 1987. Since 2006, the band's lineup has comprised vocalist/guitarists Jerry Cantrell and William DuVall, bassist Mike Inez, and drummer Sean Kinney. Voca ...

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...

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

, and

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...

. It was released by Pipe Dreams Records, Salling's own label, in partnership with Fontana Distribution. 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", " The Lady Is a Tramp", " Run Joey Run", " Beth", " Just Give Me a Reason", "

Good Vibrations "Good Vibrations" is a song by the American rock music, rock band the Beach Boys, produced and composed by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Mike Love. Released as a single on October 10, 1966, it achieved immediate critical and commercial success, ...

", and " Fat Bottomed Girls". 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 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 from 2007 to 2010, and ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' model DJ Roxanne Dawn from 2010 to 2011. He resided in Shadow Hills, Los Angeles,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. 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 such as binoculars or a telescop ...

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 her knowing 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, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los 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. 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 and

USB flash drive A flash drive (also thumb drive, memory stick, and pen drive/pendrive) is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. A typical USB drive is removable, rewritable, and smaller than an optical disc, and u ...

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's film '' Gods and Secrets'', later renamed '' The Guardians of Justice.'' 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 a

sex offender A sex offender (sexual offender, sex abuser, or sexual abuser) is a person who has committed a Sex and the law, sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and legal jurisdiction. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convi ...

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 hanged himself 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 his death was ruled a

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

. He was cremated.

Filmography

Film

Television

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Salling, Mark 1982 births 2010s missing person cases 2018 deaths 2018 suicides 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American criminals 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American singer-songwriters 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 Formerly missing American people Guitarists from Texas Male actors from Dallas Male suicides Missing person cases in California Drummers from Dallas Record producers from Texas Singer-songwriters from Texas Suicides by hanging in California Lake Highlands High School alumni