Former Joker, Andrew Koenig commits suicide at 41

by Matt Holmes

Before The Dark Knight - my favourite on screen interpretation of The Joker wasn't in fact Jack Nicholson from Batman 89' but actually a small one scene stint from Andrew Koenig in Sandy Collora's fan-made short titled Batman: Dead End. Watching the short again, it hasn't aged as well as I remember it and The Joker comes off as a little whiny and Koenig's line delivery doesn't have the right rhythm but considering this was a low-budget short, probably done in a couple of takes - I think it's a wonderful effort and addition to the Joker on screen mythology. I always hoped Koenig would be hired to reprise the role, maybe voicing an animated movie or something but alas it never happened. The same Andrew Koenig, 41 years old and son of Star Trek's Walter Koenig (Pavel Chekov) and former regular on 80's t.v. drama Growing Pains, was found dead yesterday in a wooded area of a near by park after committing suicide. He hadn't been seen since 11 days previously after visiting friends in Vancouver.

Sad, too soon, of course. A guy whose talent was never fulfilled.

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Matt Holmes is the co-founder of What Culture, formerly known as Obsessed With Film. He has been blogging about pop culture and entertainment since 2006 and has written over 10,000 articles.