{{short description|American actor and film editor (1968–2010)}} {{other people}} {{pp-move}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2011}} {{Infobox person | name = Andrew Koenig | image = Koenig falstaff 1982 1.jpg | caption = Koenig in 1982 as the Page Boy in ''Falstaff'' | birth_name = Joshua Andrew Koenig | birth_date = {{birth date|1968|08|17}} | birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | death_place = Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | death_date = {{circa}} {{death date and age|2010|02|16|1968|08|17}} | body_discovered = February 25, 2010<br>Stanley Park, downtown Vancouver | resting_place = Hollywood Forever Cemetery | alma_mater = University of Southern California | years_active = 1973–2010 | occupation = {{flatlist| * Actor * director * editor * writer}} | father = Walter Koenig | mother = | relatives = Jimmy Pardo (brother-in-law) }} '''Joshua Andrew Koenig''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|eɪ|n|ɪ|ɡ}}; August 17, 1968 – {{circa}} February 16, 2010) was an American character actor, film director, editor, writer, and human rights activist. He was known for his role as Richard "Boner" Stabone in ''Growing Pains''.
==Early life== Andrew Koenig was born August 17, 1968, the son of ''Star Trek'' actor Walter Koenig and Judy Levitt.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/36051/andrew-koenig-missing-you-can-help |title=Andrew Koenig – Missing. You Can Help! |website=Dread Central |date=February 22, 2010 |access-date=February 26, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100224081106/http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/36051/andrew-koenig-missing-you-can-help| archive-date= February 24, 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref> He was Jewish.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/archives/jewish-stars/article_4158bc30-f034-5c93-96c9-ab92ba98479b.amp.html|title=Jewish Stars|date=March 19, 2010|website=Cleveland Jewish News}}</ref>
Writer Harlan Ellison spoke of the young Koenig as being the inspiration for his story "Jeffty Is Five".
{{blockquote|I had been awed and delighted by Josh Koenig, and I instantly thought of just such a child who was arrested in time at the age of five. Jeffty, in no small measure, is Josh: the sweetness of Josh, the intelligence of Josh, the questioning nature of Josh.<ref>{{cite book |title=Shatterday |author=Ellison, Harlan |authorlink=Harlan Ellison |year=1980 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |page=[https://archive.org/details/shatterday00elli/page/10 10] |isbn=978-0-395-28587-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/shatterday00elli/page/10 }}</ref>}}
The story went on to win the 1977 Nebula Award and the 1978 Hugo Award for Best Short Story.
==Career== From 1985 to 1989, Koenig played a recurring role as Richard "Boner" Stabone, best friend to Kirk Cameron's character Mike Seaver in the first four seasons of the ABC sitcom ''Growing Pains''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.classictvhits.com/tvratings/1986.htm |title=TV Ratings > 1980s |website=ClassicTVHits.com |access-date=February 26, 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206054018/http://www.classictvhits.com/tvratings/1986.htm| archive-date=February 6, 2010| url-status=live}}</ref> During the same period, he guest starred on episodes of the sitcoms ''My Sister Sam'' and ''My Two Dads'' as well as the drama ''21 Jump Street''. In the early 1990s he provided a voice for the animated series ''G.I. Joe'' as Ambush and Night Creeper Leader,<ref>{{cite news| url=http://dailycontributor.com/andrew-koenig%E2%80%99s-body-found-in-stanley-park/12158/ |title=Andrew Koenig's Body Found in Stanley Park |website=Daily Contributor |access-date=February 26, 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100228205232/http://dailycontributor.com/andrew-koenig%E2%80%99s-body-found-in-stanley-park/12158/| archive-date=February 28, 2010| url-status=live}}</ref> and had a minor role as Tumak in the 1993 ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' episode "Sanctuary".
Koenig played the role of The Joker in the 2003 fan film ''Batman: Dead End''.<ref name="fox">{{cite news |url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/growing-pains-actor-andrew-koenig-found-dead/ |title='Growing Pains' Actor Andrew Koenig Found Dead |work=Fox News |date=February 25, 2010 |access-date=February 26, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905193227/http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2010/02/25/growing-pains-star-andrew-koenig-reportedly-dead/ |archive-date=September 5, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Onstage, he played the Page Boy in the eight performances of Verdi's ''Falstaff'', a production of the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California, in April 1982. As an adult, he starred as the M.C. in the 2007 interactive theater play ''The Boomerang Kid''<ref>{{cite web |last=Hanselman |first=Scott |url=http://www.lasplash.com/publish/Los_Angeles_Performances_116/The_Boomerang_Kid--You_ll_Keep_Coming_Back.php |title=The Boomerang Kid – You'll Keep Coming Back |website=LA Splash Magazine |access-date=February 26, 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330043229/http://www.lasplash.com/publish/Los_Angeles_Performances_116/The_Boomerang_Kid--You_ll_Keep_Coming_Back.php| archive-date=March 30, 2010| url-status=live}}</ref> and performed with the improv group Charles Whitman Reilly and Friends.
Though he continued his performing career in the 2006 independent film ''The Theory of Everything'' (2006), Koenig worked increasingly behind the scenes. He wrote, produced and/or directed the shorts ''Good Boy'' (2003) and ''Woman in a Green Dress'' and ''Instinct vs. Reason'' (2004). He worked as an editor on a number of films and was a video producer for the podcast ''Never Not Funny'' (2006–2010). His final role was in the film ''DaZe: Vol. Too — NonSeNse'', in post-production at the time of his death, with Koenig portraying the role of Vice Chancellor.<ref name="fox" />
==Personal life== Koenig was an important part of the nonviolent direct action community in Venice Beach that focused on environmental protection during the 1990s. Koenig, a vegan,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2010/02/26/andrew-koenigs-brother-in-law-cancels-chicago-comedy-shows/ |title=Andrew Koenig's brother-in-law cancels Chicago comedy shows |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |first=Steve| last=Johnson| date=February 26, 2010 |access-date=November 16, 2022 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> traveled to Burma in July 2007 and visited Burmese refugee camps in Thailand with his father as part of the U.S. Campaign for Burma. The following January, he protested the People's Republic of China's political and financial support of the military dictatorship in Burma during the 119th Tournament of Roses in Pasadena, California; after a pre-parade human rights march agreed to by parade officials was allegedly stifled by them, he entered the parade and stood in front of a Chinese float promoting the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Koenig, who carried a sign reading "China: Free Burma" in both English and Chinese, was arrested and briefly held for his act of civil disobedience. Koenig's defense attorney was Bill Paparian, a fellow protester and former mayor of Pasadena.<ref name="pasadenaweekly1">{{cite web |url=http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/ready_for_a_fight/5735/ |title=Ready for a fight |date=March 5, 2008 |newspaper=Pasadena Weekly |access-date=February 26, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100206161757/http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/ready_for_a_fight/5735/ |archive-date=February 6, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>
"China sits on the UN Security Council and they have refused to condemn Burma. China purchases gas from Burma and sells them weapons that the military uses on the Burmese people. So they are really quite complicit, and that was the whole point of protesting the China float," Koenig explained.<ref name="pasadenaweekly1" /> Koenig also noted the Chinese government's implicit support of the genocide in Sudan, sweatshops and tainted export products, saying of the float, "China is putting on a good face because of the Olympics, but [it's time to] send a message to the Chinese government that they have to not just change their face, but change the way they do things."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/?id=5514&IssueNum=105 |title=Cops pop 'Boner' |newspaper=Pasadena Weekly |access-date=February 26, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100522212533/http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/?id=5514&IssueNum=105 |archive-date=May 22, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> ''The Pasadena Weekly'' quoted Koenig as stating, "Their free speech rights have been totally censored. As a country with a Constitution and a Bill of Rights, we need to continue to support and enforce ours, and [use it to] recognize the rights of human beings all over the world".<ref name="pasadenaweekly1" />
===Death=== Koenig was last seen in Vancouver, British Columbia, on February 14, 2010, and missed a scheduled flight on February 16, which was the last day he used his cell phone or conducted any banking.<ref name = "Missing"> {{Cite news | last1 = Dillon | first1 = Nancy | title = 'Growing Pains' actor Andrew Koenig fears he may have harmed himself | work = New York Daily News | date = February 24, 2010 | url = http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/family-missing-growing-pains-actor-andrew-koenig-fears-harmed-article-1.195015 | access-date = 17 August 2024 | url-access = subscription | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130127124525/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/family-missing-growing-pains-actor-andrew-koenig-fears-harmed-article-1.195015 | archive-date = January 27, 2013 | url-status = live }}</ref> On February 25, a group of friends and family found him dead in Vancouver's Stanley Park; he had apparently hanged himself.<ref name = "NY Post Death"> {{Cite news| last1=Roberts| first1=Soraya| title='Growing Pains' actor Andrew Koenig hung himself from tree in Vancouver's Stanley Park: source| work=New York Daily News| date=February 28, 2010| url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/growing-pains-actor-andrew-koenig-hanged-tree-vancouver-stanley-park-source-article-1.169684| access-date=17 August 2024| url-access=subscription| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130122022032/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/growing-pains-actor-andrew-koenig-hanged-tree-vancouver-stanley-park-source-article-1.169684| archive-date=January 22, 2013| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/TV/02/25/growing.pains.actor.dead/index.html | title=Missing actor's body found in Vancouver park, source says |work=CNN |date=February 25, 2010 |author=Duke, Alan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100227024117/http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/TV/02/25/growing.pains.actor.dead/index.html |archive-date= February 27, 2010 |url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Wellness/growing-pains-andrew-koenigs-long-battle-depression/story?id=9955922#.UOm7IrbA6EJ |title=Andrew Koenig's Long, Losing Battle With Depression |last1=Fisher |first1=Luchina |date=February 26, 2010 |work=ABC News |access-date=2015-01-07}}</ref> Koenig was 41 years old.
==Filmography== {|class="wikitable" |- ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- | 1973 | ''Adam-12'' | Little Boy | Episode: "Rampart Division: The Senior Citizens" <br /> (uncredited) |- | 1985–1989 | ''Growing Pains'' | Richard "Boner" Stabone | 25 episodes |- | 1987 | ''My Sister Sam'' | Mr. Rudnick | Episode: "Go Crazy" |- | 1988 | ''21 Jump Street'' | Wally | Episode: "Champagne High" |- | 1989 | ''My Two Dads'' | Jon | Episode: "You Can Count on Me" |- | 1990 | ''G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' | Ambush<br />Night Creeper Leader<br />Various Cobra Troopers | (Season 1) |- | 1993 | ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' | Tumak | Episode: "Sanctuary" |- | 2003 | ''Batman: Dead End'' | The Joker | Fan film |- | 2006 |''The Theory of Everything'' | Scott | Direct to video |- | 2008 |''InAlienable'' | Emil | Feature film |- | 2010 | ''DaZe: Vol. Too — NonSeNse''<!-- Title uses camel-case and deliberate misspellings. Do not change. --> | Vice Chancellor | |}
==See also== *List of solved missing person cases (2010s)
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|0462809|Andrew Koenig}} * {{find a Grave|48788823}} {{Memory Alpha|Andrew Koenig}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koenig, Andrew}} Category:1968 births Category:2010 deaths Category:2010 suicides Category:20th-century American comedians Category:20th-century American male actors Category:21st-century American male actors Category:21st-century American comedians Category:Activists from California Category:American film editors Category:American human rights activists Category:American male child actors Category:American male comedians Category:American male film actors Category:American male television actors Category:American male voice actors Category:American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent Category:Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery Category:Comedians from Los Angeles Category:Film directors from California Category:Formerly missing American people Category:Jewish American male actors Category:Male suicides Category:Actors and actresses who died by suicide Category:Missing person cases in Canada Category:North Hollywood High School alumni Category:Suicides by hanging in Canada Category:Suicides in British Columbia Category:21st-century American Jews Category:Date of death uncertain