Josh Andrew Koenig

Joshua Andrew Koenig (; August 17, 1968 – 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. He was Jewish.

Writer Harlan Ellison spoke of the young Koenig as being the inspiration for his story "Jeffty Is Five".

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''. 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, 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''.

Onstage, he played the Page Boy in the eight performances of Verdi's ''Falstaff'', a production of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra 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'' 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.

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, 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 Communist Party 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.

"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. 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 t's time tosend a message to the Chinese government that they have to not just change their face, but change the way they do things." ''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 se it torecognize the rights of human beings all over the world".

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.
On February 25, a group of friends and family found him dead in Vancouver's Stanley Park; he had apparently hanged himself.

Filmography

See also

*List of solved missing person cases

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Koenig, Andrew
1968 births
2010 deaths
2010 suicides
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American comedians
Activists from California
American film editors
American human rights activists
American male child actors
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Comedians from Los Angeles
Film directors from California
Formerly missing American people
Jewish American male actors
Male suicides
Missing person cases in Canada
North Hollywood High School alumni
Suicides by hanging in Canada
Suicides in British Columbia
21st-century American Jews
Date of death uncertain