What was initially a fear, has finally come true. Six days after news of her disappearance broke out, Naya Rivera’s body has finally been found. The Glee actor is no more, her dead body was found in Southern California Lake. She was just 33 years old.
Earlier on 8, July her son was found alone on a boat they rented on Lake Piru. The Ventura County sherrif’s office confirmed the news of her death after they found her body. It is indeed a tragic incident.
Naya, gained recognition after playing the role of a lesbian teen on Glee. From 2009 to 2015, she appeared on the show, which ran on Fox. Her acting career had begun at a tender age of 4, as a child actor she appeared on shows such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Family Matters and The Bernie Mac Show.
Before founding success with her starring role in Glee, she worked at various places, doing menial jobs such as of a telemarketer, nanny, waitress and a greeter at Abercrombie & Fitch.
The turning point in her life came, when she auditioned for Glee. She sang Destiny’s Child’s “Emotion”, in her audition. Though in the first season, she was not a regular character. It was the second season, where she became a regular on the show and fame started catching up with her.
While playing a lesbian teen on the show, she helped empowering several other people in real life, who came forward and embraced their sexuality. Many people credited her for this. About the role, she had said the following in an interview :
“Honestly, I never thought I’d actually be playing a teen lesbian,” she told the Los Angeles Times in 2011. “I didn’t think it was going to go this far. But I’m glad that it did, because there have been a lot of fans who have expressed that they’ve been going through similar situations in their lives. I’ve heard from girls that are in high school, they’re 16, 17, and they’re like, ‘I came out to my mom,’ or ‘I came out to my friends, and thank you for helping me do that.’”
The news of her death has sent a wave of sadness across everywhere in the industry. Her co-star on Glee, Jane Lynch took to Twitter to express her sadness. She wrote :
“Rest sweet, Naya. What a force you were.”
While, 20th Century Fox Tv and Fox Entertainment, released a statement. It read :
“Naya Rivera was a fierce talent with so much more to do and this is such a terrible tragedy. We are forever grateful for the indelible contribution she made to Glee, from the first episode to the last.”
Apart from acting, she was also a singer and sang some songs on Glee too. Some of the songs which became memorable amongst the fans were a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide”, along with guest star, Gwyneth Paltrow, “Here Comes The Sun” with Demi Lovato and a cover of The Band Perry’s “If I Die Young”.
In 2014, she made her film debut with ‘At The Devil’s Door and in the same year married, actor Ryan Dorsey. Together they had a son, Josey in 2015. Though they soon divorced, after Rivera allegedly hit Dorsey in 2017. She was arrested and charged with misdemeanor domestic battery .
Before her death, she also released an autobiography. Tilted as “Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes and Growing Up”. In it, she had written how motherhood changed her life and its perspective.
She further wrote in her memoir :
“Your life doesn’t have to be perfect for you to be proud. In fact, I think it’s the opposite: the more imperfect your life has been, the prouder you should be, because it means you’ve come that much further, and also probably had a lot more fun along the way.”
Today, she is no more but her work on Glee and her role in empowering young lesbian women to come out and embrace themselves, with her character on Glee will forever be remembered.
A true powerhouse of talent, she has left her parents, younger brother Mychal, sister Nickayla and her 4-year-old son Josey behind.