Earlier last week, close friends and fans of actor Andrew Koenig took over popular sites like Twitter asking people to keep their eyes open for Koenig, who had recently gone missing in Vancouver, where he was said to be visiting friends. Sadly, the actor’s body was found today in one of his favorite places to go while in Canada, Stanley Park, where he had committed suicide. He was 41 years old.
Many had expressed their worry for Koenig after his disappearance on Valentine’s Day due to a history of depression and difficulties with life, and in those instances, this is always the worst case scenario.
Koenig was best known as for his role as Richard “Boner” Stabone, Kirk Cameron’s best friend on the 80s TV series Growing Pains. He also appeared on shows like My Two Dads and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. His stint on Star Trek was fitting as his father, Walter Koenig, played Chekov on the original series with William Shatner. The father and son appeared together in a film called InAlienable in 2008. The actor, who was also a writer and producer, also did voice work for cartoon series like G.I. Joe and appeared as The Joker in Batman: Dead End, a fan-made film.
Here is what Walter Koenig and his wife Judy had to say about depression and doing something — anything — you can before giving in to something as tragic as suicide.
If you know or are one of those people who feel like you can’t handle it any more. If you can learn anything from this, it is that there are people out there who care. You may not think so, and ultimately it may not be enough, but there are people that care. Before you make that final decision, check it out again, talk to somebody.
For the families of people suffering from depression, they don’t realize there is help and they need help. Connect with each other if there is something is bothering you because there is love out there. All the people from the police to his friends up here have shown signs of love, which in his pain he didn’t realize was available to him. That’s the hardest part.
The park that Koenig was found in was so large that it took multiple searches before anyone found him. In the end, it was actually a group of his own friends along with his father who found his body.
Andrew Koenig 1968 — 2010
[Source: Vancouver Sun]
