Cory Monteith was remembered at the Emmy Awards on Sunday night when his costar Jane Lynch paid a tribute to the "beautiful soul".
Standing on stage in a sombre black suit, Jane said: "Cory was a beautiful soul. He was not perfect, which many of us here tonight can relate to. "His death is a tragic reminder of the rapacious, senseless destruction that is brought on by addiction," she said of her former fellow Glee star, who died in July at the age of 31. An autopsy revealed that the beloved actor died of "mixed drug toxicity, involving heroin and alcohol."
Speaking to a silent Los Angeles theatre during the 65th annual Primetime Emmys ceremony, the actress went on: "Tonight, we remember Cory for all he was, and mourn the loss for all he could have been. "She finished by telling Cory's fans that if they had met him and experienced "Cory's goofy, breezy sense of humour, his natural instinct for inclusiveness, and his unbridled sense of generosity day in and day out, I promise, you would have loved him even more."
Glee star Cory wasn't the only actor to receive a touching tribute at the awards ceremony. James Gandolfini, the American actor best known for his role as gang mobster Tony Soprano in The Sopranos, was spoken of by Edie Falco, his onscreen wife.
With tears in her eyes, Edie remembered her dear friend and co-star in the Emmys In Memoriam segment.
"He has tremendous warmth and heart," she said. "He was far more interested in turning the light onto people he thought were more worth," she said, noting his "fierce loyalty to his friends. "You all knew James Gandolfini the actor. I was lucky enough to know Jim the man – for 10 years as his close colleague and pretend life partner, and for many more years as his friend. "And it's Jim the man, the very dear man, that I will miss most of all," said the actress to end the moving tribute.
The much-loved and respected actor James died in June after suffering a heart attack while on holiday in Rome. He had been scheduled to take part in the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily.Tributes were also made to Family Ties producer Gary David Goldberg; All in the Family castmember Jean Stapleton; and Jonathan Winters from Mork and Mindy.