Cory Monteith found dead at 31 in Vancouver hotel room after reported drug overdose Actor Cory Monteith was found dead from a suspected drug overdose in a Vancouver hotel room at the weekend. Picture: Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images for Chrysalis Source: Getty Images GLEE star Cory Monteith's troubled life goes back almost 20 years, to when he was a 13-year-old skipping class to get high. The 31-year-old actor, who played Finn in the popular TV series was found dead from a suspected drug overdose in a Vancouver hotel room. Monteith checked into the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel on July 6 and had been due to leave the hotel yesterday. His partner and co-star, a "devastated" Lea Michele has asked for privacy to grieve. Monteith had been a high achieving student who at the age of five could read at the level of a fourth grader, but whose world fell apart when he was seven and his parents divorced. He and his brother went to live with their mother in British Columbia, Canada and saw little of their father, who was in the Canadian military. He told Parade magazine in an interview two years ago, he felt like an "outsider" and started smoking cannabis and getting drunk. By the time he was 16, he had attended 12 different schools or learning centres for troubled teenagers. "I burned a lot of bridges," he said. I was out of control. Monteith decided to quit school altogether and his drug use escalated. By the time he was 19, his drug use had reached the point of "anything and everything, as much as possible." "I had a serious problem," he recalled. Afraid that he "could die," his mother and a group of friends staged an intervention. "That's when I first went to rehab," he said. Then Monteith had what he described as a "crystallizing event." "I stole a significant amount of money from a family member," he told Parade. "I was confronted and I said, "Yeah, it was me." It was the first honorable, truthful thing that had come out of my mouth in years. Monteith confessed he had been stealing things to fund his drug habit, and getting away with it, for years, but this time the family member threatened to press charges if Monteith didn't clean up his act. I was done fighting myself. I finally said, 'I'm gonna start looking at my life and figure out why I'm doing this,' " he said. The star pulled his life together but in late March it appeared the demons had returned. The actor issued a statement that he had "voluntarily admitted himself to a treatment facility for substance addiction" and "graciously asks for your respect and privacy as he takes the necessary steps towards recovery." Glee co-star Matthew Morrison has remembered Monteith in a musical tribute during a gig in New York. 34-year-old Morrison, who plays music teacher Will Schuester in the popular TV show, sang an a capella version of What I Did For Love as a musical tribute to Monteith during his performance at Manhattan's 54 Below. You guys came to see a show, I came to perform a show, so that's what we'll do. And we'll do it in Cory's honor," Morrison told the audience though he acknowledged that going on stage after receiving the news was awkward. The song he sang also featured in season two of Glee. Morrison's very Glee tribute to his co-star is the latest in a series of star tributes that have emerged in the wake of Monteith's tragic death. His co-star Mark Salling, who portrays Finn's best friend Noah Puckerman in the series, was one of the first to express his shock, simply tweeting: "No." Dot-Marie Jones plays Coach Beiste in Glee and was also close to Cory. Cory was not only a hell of a friend he was one amazing men that I will hold close to my heart forever I am blessed to have worked with him and love him so much! Monteith's publicist said: "We are so saddened to confirm that the reports on the death of Cory Monteith are accurate. Dean Geyer says he was lucky to have had the opportunity to star alongside Cory Monteith in Glee. While the former Australian Idol contestant had limited screen time with Monteith, Geyer said he was glad to have had one opportunity to star alongside the late actor. "I'm not quite to sure what to say: (I'm very glad I got to spend a day filming one scene with Cory," Geyer wrote on Twitter today. I found out exactly why his fans love him so much. He will be very sorely missed. And I do not believe that death is in any way final. The 27-year-old then referred to a Bible passage about resurrection: "But your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise." Glee star Cory Monteith tweeted this image when he meet Prince Harry at the Wireless Festival in Londons Hyde Park back in 2010. Picture: Cory Monteith/ @frankenteen/ Twitter Source: Twitter Meanwhile, his fiancee Lea Michele is said to be struggling in the wake of his sudden death. Michele had vowed to remain strong for Monteith during his recent stint in rehab for substance abuse issues. "I love and support Cory and will stand by him through this," she said earlier this year. I am grateful and proud he made this decision. A representative for Michele, who was reportedly engaged to Monteith, said: "We ask that everyone kindly respect Lea's privacy during this devastating time," People reports. The Canadian actor had been battling substance abuse and had a month-long stint in rehab in April, before the pair were reunited. At the time, Monteith Tweeted: "Sending out big love to everyone. thank you for the continued support! It means the world to me!:)  Michele also chimed in on Twitter, saying, "Today is a great day:) Love you all! Xo. Monteith checked into rehab for substance addiction in April. One Direction singer Niall Horan described Cory as a "super nice guy" and said his thoughts were with the actor's loved ones at this difficult time. After Monteith turned his life around he moved in with a family friend, stopped using drugs, and got a job as a roofer and began working with an acting coach. In one of his classes, the coach made play a character who was contemplating suicide, and for Monteith it was breakthrough moment, the first time he felt the satisfaction of "working hard and being good at something." It was only after he went on to win his first acting job in 2005, thereafter scoring minor roles in films like the horror movie, Final Destination 3, that he gained confidence and appeared to have control of his addiction. After scoring the lead role in Glee, Monteith went back to finish his high school studies, and felt he could speak publicly about his past.