Darren Criss is remembering his “vibrant, special, worldly” older brother, Charles “Chuck” Criss.
The Glee alum, 35, took to Instagram on Wednesday, Mar. 2, to share the heartbreaking news that his 36-year-old brother had recently died by suicide.
“It breaks my heart beyond measure to say that my beloved brother Charles has left us,” Darren wrote alongside family photos and images of his brother. “His loss leaves behind a debilitating fracture in the lives of his mother, his brother, his three small children, and their respective mothers.”
The actor shared that, for the last several years, his brother had “struggled to find stability during an unfortunate rough patch” in his life.
“Despite our very vocal concerns about his well-being, and his protestations that everything was fine, it’s crushing to say now that Chuck clearly had had a severe depression welling up in him for some time,” he shared. “A depression that was only outmatched by his all-too-incredible ability to conceal it. Not just from the world at large, but most tragically, from the people who were closest to him.”