Growing Pains Co-Star Commits Suicide at 41
If you grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, you knew him as the lovable, somewhat dim-witted sidekick to Mike Seaver on Growing Pains. He played Boner Stabone and he provided plenty of comic relief on the prime time sitcom that ran from 1985-1992. Andrew Koenig is still most remembered for this role, and when he went missing on February 14 in Vancouver, the internet was aBuzz and aTwitter with “Where’s Boner?”
Unfortunately, we found out the answer to that question on Thursday, February 25th, when the body of 41-year-old Andrew Koenig was found in in Vancouver’s Stanley Park. A search party consisting of family and friends found him hanging from a tree in the densely wooded marshy area where police had been searching for days. His father gave a press conference that afternoon to confirm that his son had taken his own life. He also admitted that his son had suffered from depression and that he had sent his father a note after he had gone missing in which he had seemed “despondent.”
Celebrities had used social media, as they so often do, to aid in the search for Koenig. Stars such as Sarah Silverman, Felicia Day and of course, Twitterati queen Alyssa Milano all joined in on the efforts. Joel McHale tweeted “No joke here, ‘Soup’ family friend Andrew Koenig missing in Vancouver.” Just goes to show, sometimes celebrities other than Alyssa and Ashton use Twitter for things other than pimping their television shows and telling dirty jokes.
His Growing Pains co-star, Kirk Cameron reached out as well. Earlier last week he issued a statement saying “I am praying for his family during this time of distress and for his safe return. Andrew, if you are reading this, please call me.” But, there was no call.
Sadly, there was no happy ending for Andrew Koenig, a man who was described by colleagues as a “really talented guy” and a whole generation of 30 and 40-somethings are mourning the loss of a favorite sitcom character. RIP Boner. You will be missed.