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The 31-year-old actor was found dead in his hotel room in Vancouver, Canada, on Saturday and is believed to have been living a double life.
Website TMZ.com reports the Glee cast spent a lot of time keeping Corey sober but when he returned to his hometown of Vancouver "alcohol and drugs were always involved" and his drive to stay clean withered.
The star's family were aware of his problems and did all they could to help, and Cory's cousin, Richard Monteith, is highly saddened by the death of "a beautifully genuine soul".
'He was at the top'
He told Canada's Global NEWS: "It's like my hero died. He would do anything for anyone - give you the shirt off his back."
Richard admitted Corey's life had "started out rough" but he was pleased things seemed to be working out for the actor following his success in Glee, where he played high school student Finn Hudson.
He continued: "He was able to do what he wanted, and supply his family with what he wanted to. And he was at the top - he was where he wanted to be."
Corey's lead role in the American series opened up other doors for him and recently he was seen playing a drug-addicted hustler in the movie McCanick directed by Josh Waller.
Josh told ET Canada: "He was like: 'I can do this character, I know this character, I was this character, I have lived elements of this. I was a troubled youth'."
