VANCOUVER — Cory Monteith will be part of a special Emmy tribute this Sunday, alongside actors such as James Gandolfini, Jean Stapleton and Jonathan Winters.
However, one Variety columnist does not think Monteith deserves to be singled out in this way, because his body of work did not stand out like some of the others.
“The unspoken, uncomfortable truth of the matter is that while the work he did on Glee showed great promise, it was not equal to the incredible careers the other four amassed,” Andrew Wallenstein wrote.
Monteith was mostly known for his work on Glee although he previously appeared in several TV shows and movies.
The Alberta-born actor was found dead in his Vancouver hotel room on July 13, and it was later confirmed he died from an overdose of heroin and alcohol. He was 31 years old.
Wallenstein wrote that while Monteith’s death was tragic, “to merit special treatment like what the Academy is doing here, an actor should have a body of work that puts him head and shoulders above his peers. There will surely be disagreement from his ardent fans, but if Monteith had really achieved that status, those accolades would have been coming even before his death.”
However, Wallenstein does think the Emmy recognition will put deserved focus on the issues around drug addiction.
Out of almost 4,500 votes on the Variety article, just over 60 per cent of people think Monteith deserves the special Emmy tribute.
“By putting Monteith in this elite group, the Academy is risking having its honorable intentions misconstrued as using the actor’s memory to cater to the younger audiences that are in decreasingly short supply for award shows these days,” wrote Wallenstein.
He said the Emmys should be about recognizing a body of work, not a work that could have been.
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