Survivor birthday: Rudy Boesch (Borneo, All-Stars) turns 90

The original straight-talking, tough-but-lovable Survivor player, Rudy Boesch turns 90 years old today. We wish him all the best!

Player: Rudy Boesch
Occupation: Retired Navy SEAL
Hometown: Virginia Beach, VA
Seasons: Survivor Borneo, All-Stars
Tribes: Tagi (Orange Buff), Rattana (Green Buff) in Borneo, Saboga (Yellow Buff)
Finished: 3/16 in Borneo, 17/18 in All-Stars

From what we know of the Survivor Ghost Island cast, the oldest player of season 36 will be 43 years old at the time of filming. That’s a whole three years younger than the youngest player from Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, and less than half the age of one of the most memorable players in the show’s history; Rudy Boesch.

Back when the show exploded in popularity, Survivor Borneo’s Rudy represented the older generation and the infinite well of honesty and hardened character they bring to their daily lives. While lesser people of a certain age would be completely stuck in their ways and shut out other players based on their lifestyles, Rudy showed America a level of tolerance and acceptance of Richard, embracing the social experiment aspects of this crazy game.

While he wasn’t the strongest player in the game, he was a tough son of a gun who would never quit or never give up. He was never above the game, too, unlike everyone else who rejected the idea of an alliance. He was just holding on a bit longer in the Final Immunity Challenge away from being the first to win a million dollars, but he never complained or felt things were unfair.

That said, there was a bit of edge to Rudy that definitely veered into politically-incorrect territory, especially by today’s standards. It was just a few years ago that he was making a non-PC reference to Richard’s homosexuality at the Survivor Caramoan reunion, although still within the same reference as a term of endearment that he used during the show. Plus, there was that time when he basically threatened those who voted him out in All-Stars, as seen below.

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For what it’s worth, Rudy is a very good-natured person who doesn’t like to be wronged, loves and supports his family, and tries to do right by his common man, no matter how different a life they live from him. For that, we at Surviving Tribal would like to wish Rudy Boesch a very happy 90th birthday!