Although a topic of some controversy, Glee’s Jane Lynch honored the late Cory Monteith at the Emmy Awards on Sunday during the new “In Memoriam” segment.
Monteith tragically died at the age of 31 back in July. A coroner’s report deemed it was due to a lethal mixture of heroin and alcohol.
Lynch, who plays the role of Sue Sylvester on the hit FOX show, paid tribute to the actor by admitting he was “not perfect” but a “gifted and wonderful young man.”
"It is remarkable, and perhaps a little curious, how quickly television shows become like families. This summer on our show Glee we suffered a painful death in our family: Cory Monteith played Finn Hudson, a star quarterback turned wide-eyed, heartfelt glee singer," she started out, reports.
"And from the first time you saw Cory he had a star quality and a general sweetness that made it impossible not to fall in love with him . . . and millions did fall in love with Cory. And I'm here to say that all that warmth and that charm, that open-hearted quality that we loved in Cory was no act."
She went on to call him a “beautiful soul,” saying that his death is a “tragic reminder of the rapacious, senseless destruction that is brought on by addiction.”
"Tonight, we remember Cory for all he was and mourn the loss for all he could have been. To a generation that loved Cory so, please know, this gifted and wonderful young man was worthy of your love. And, if you were lucky enough to know Cory as we did, and witness firsthand Cory's goofy, breezy sense of humor, his natural instinct for inclusiveness and his unbridled sense of generosity day in and day out, I promise, you'd have loved him even more,” she concluded.
The son of the late Jack Klugman had an issue with the Emmys honoring Monteith and not his father, however, telling the LA Times, "They're celebrating this self-inflicted tragedy instead of celebrating the life of my father, who won three Emmys.... Cory Monteith never won an Emmy."
image: CBS