May 28, 1970 – December 3, 2002
Ireland born Glenn was Mark on Roseanne, and played Doyle on Angel as well as other roles.
Glenn was also the co-owner/silent partner of a club called Goldfinger’s which is just a couple of doors down from the PLA BOY liquor store in a particularly grubby area of Hollywood, mentioned in the Ed Wood story.
Here is the back view of the bar, which I plan to check out soon.
The good folks at celebritycollectables.com sent me the autopsy report for this story, thus making it available for us. A fascinating document, and perfect for the Death Hag on your Christmas list.
Glenn had a booze and drug problem for quite some time. He lost his last job on Angel because of it. It appears that he was on a downward spiral, and according to some sources, he lost the house he bought from his Roseanne money. He was bought out in his night club venture, because he was begging for money from customers, getting in to fights and just being an all around embarrassment. The last straw for Glenn was being kicked out of rehab (Wavelengths in Malibu), for using drugs. This was a few days before he died.
Glenn was living the “transient” lifestyle, staying with friends, and on December 2, 2002, he was staying with his buddy Dwayne in North Hollywood. The apartment was on the ground floor, and Glenn was sleeping on the couch.
Glenn and Dwayne spoke around 10 p.m., when Dwayne went to bed. At some point, Glenn had shot up heroin. Dwayne woke the next morning, saw Glenn sleeping there (he thought) and went out to run some errands. Upon his return around 11a.m. or noon, he took a closer look at Glenn.
I think that the reporter from The Globe put it best when he wrote, “The Irish born actor was proud of his heritage, sporting the tattoo Erin Go Braugh (Ireland Forever) on his right shoulder and one of an Irish harp on this left. But the hunk was a mess – with a chalky drool oozing from his mouth and mismatched socks on his feet – when his cold corpse was found on a couch of a friend’s North Hollywood apartment.”
Dwayne lived in this apartment building in North Hollywood, just a stone’s throw from the glamorous Beverly Garland Hotel. In fact, at the end of the street where Glenn died, there was some lovely flowerage courtesy of The Bev.
On a positive note, the coroner deemed the apartment “clean and furnished.” That had to make Dwayne’s mum proud, offsetting the fact that a junkie overdosed on her son’s couch.
Cause of death, Morphine Intoxication. An overdose of heroin. Accidental. Just an FYI, heroin shows up as morphine in autopsies.
He was only 32.
Autopsy reports are revealing.
Apparently he left behind some financial troubles as well. Michael Fishman, who played D.J. on Roseanne, put out a plea for people to send donations to help cover the funeral costs. Sad considering that Glenn probably made more in a year than most “average” people make in a decade, and he pissed it all away on drugs. He had serious demons.
He was taken to the Luyben Family Mortuary and embalmed.
A funeral was held, and Sara Gilbert and Johnny Galecki (Darlene and David on Roseanne) attended. Glenn is buried in Forest Lawn, Cypress – in Orange County.
My pal Kim sends us these pictures of Glenn’s final resting spot. His original marker was quite modest, but since its been replaced with a more suitable one.
Thanks Kim!
Trivia: Glenn gave Gwyneth Paltrow her first on screen kiss in a movie called Shout.
Drugs are bad, mmkay?
This is a teachable moment so let me point out it was because Glenn had been in rehab and most likely dried out for at least a month that he died from heroin overdose. It’s the biggest mistake a lot of people make going back to their usual dose and because their body had been recovering their normal dose killed them! Same with River phoenix who had been far away from drugs or alcohol working on location and his body was healing but then one night in town and he took too much and it killed him. Very sad and so sad for Glenn and his family.
I loved him in Roseanne It’s sad the way he died rip Glenn
REALLY A SHAME!! WHAT A WASTE OF A TALENTED, FINE LOOKING, YOUNG MAN. I SAW HIM ACTING FOR SEVERAL YEARS AND ALWAYS ENJOYED HIS TALENT…..
REST IN PEACE – YOU ARE MISSED AND REMEMBERED….. CHANCE
While I’m happen the comments here are very respectful the article wasn’t – addiction is a disease and referring to people who sadly die from that addiction and those demons “junkies” like their life didn’t matter is so wrong.
I’m guessing you have never been to this page before.
Ha !
A true shame , he was very funny on Roseanne. It’s a shame how they get lost . My son was 27 and a bad heroin addict , I made him go to recovery and not for no 30 or 90 days .I sent him for a year
Good for you. I wish more families or people would do that – especially when a person really wants help. 30 days isn’t enough for sure at least try 60 and then decide from there.
I too never realized that Mr. Quinn was from Ireland, I’m truly saddened to have recently learned that he died of a heroine overdose. He was awesome as Mark Healy on ‘Roseanne’ I loved the character Mark Healy & what a nice looking man he was too. Thank you Glenn for the wonerful memories & the laughs that came along with them……R.I.P. Glenn & God BlessYou!
Did you just watch him on Roseanne? Because he used his Irish accent on Angel and once you’ve heard it you can occasionally hear it come out on Roseanne in certain words.
He was a very good actor. Very handsome. No idea he was from Ireland. Very sad. RIP Glenn
Until I started watching reruns of Roseanne & got internet, I had no idea this young man had come from Ireland, become a damn fine actor, got list somewhere because no one hunts in the dark for demons that left but you didn’t know. It’s terribly sad. He was a great soul.