When I heard that an actor who'd played on Growing Pains had committed suicide, I didn't know it was the guy who played Boner, Mike Seaver's best friend.
Posted by buffalo-girl (Member # 7498) on :
is this the same actor that was missing for a week> he was checkov from star trek's son? if so very sad !
Posted by pettyfan (Member # 2260) on :
Yes, I think his parents reported him missing. I don't know about the Star Trek thing though.
Posted by saturnchick (Member # 7524) on :
Yes, Andrew Koenig was the son of Walter Koenig, who played Chekov on the original Star Trek. It's funny that all those years I never knew that "Boner" was Checkov's son. RIP, Andrew.
Posted by buffalo-girl (Member # 7498) on :
i saw his parents on the news this past week asking him to just let them know he is okay as they did not hear from him for a week and he didn't use his cell phone or bank account etc. they thought andrew wanted to just disappear for a while? very sad! i didn't know checkov was his father until i saw them on the news myself?
Posted by Riptide (Member # 457) on :
Oh man, this is sad. I loved his Boner character. Didn't know either he was Chekov's son, didn't look like him at all. What a terrible loss.
Posted by Devolution (Member # 1731) on :
Devolution here,
Wasn't he called boner because his real name was like William SteBONE?
WE are DEVO
Posted by Riptide (Member # 457) on :
I just remember there was a growing pains episode where he told Mike his favorite actor was Sylvester Svabone. I think he left the series by saying he went to join the army on the show. RIP.
Posted by Secret Admirer (Member # 3574) on :
Yeah, I like Growing Pains a lot, and Boner was a good sidekick. I have fond memories of the antics from the show. He was a good teenage actor.
Depression is a serious thing, and I wish more people understood that. I always hear people saying things like "depression isn't a real disease" or "people aren't depressed they're just lazy" or "they just need to be strong and snap out of it" or "they have a weak mind". Try telling someone who is depressed all that nonsense after they are gone. You can't
Hopefully, more awareness will come by way of this tragedy.
Posted by Pittsburghgirl (Member # 7514) on :
That is really sad. I loved his character on Growing Pains. Another thing that bugs me is it seems like his career fizzled out after GP. If those "stars" that were trying to reach out to him in the past week had really cared, they might have tried to help him with his depression, and maybe helped him find more acting work. Just my opinion, because there are way more phoneys in Hollywood than genuinely caring people.
![[Frown]](frown.gif)