Rudy Boesch

Survivor contestant
name = Rudy Boesch


birthdate = birth date and age|1928|01|20
location = Virginia Beach, Virginia
season =
finish = 3rd place (Borneo) 2nd voted out (All-Stars)
tribe = Borneo:
colorbox|orange Tagi
colorbox|#ADFF21 Rattana All-Stars:
colorbox|yellow Saboga

Rudy Boesch (born January 20, 1928) is a retired Navy SEAL. After his retirement, he was the oldest competitor on "" at 72 years of age, where he finished in third place. He currently lives in Virginia Beach.

Military experience

Boesch served in the U.S. military as a Navy SEAL team leader, completing over 45 years continuous active duty. From 1968–1970, Boesch completed two combat deployments to Vietnam. Boesch earned the Bronze Star for heroic action during more than 45 combat operations. In 1967, Boesch was promoted to the rank of Master Chief Petty Officer. During and after his stint in Vietnam, Boesch was designated the "Chief SEAL" (a.k.a "Bullfrog"), and set physical and operational standards at SEAL Team TWO. Boesch was awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal as Command Master Chief Petty Officer of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). Rudy Boesch was honorably discharged from the Navy on August 1, 1990.

"Survivor"

Boesch was one of the final three players in ', but was eliminated from the final immunity challenge of the season when he inadvertently dropped his hand from the idol the competitors had to keep their hands on; he was subsequently voted out of the game by Kelly Wiglesworth. In 2004, he appeared in ', where he was the second contestant voted off the show.

After "Survivor"

Boesch hosted "Combat Missions", a Mark Burnett-produced reality series that aired on the USA Network in 2002. Boesch wrote a book, "The Book of Rudy" (ISBN 1-58062-613-0), which contains his opinions on an array of topics. Rudy was the oldest contestant to ever play the game at age 75, Survivor: All-Stars. He was voted out due to a lack of strength and a hurt ankle. He formed an alliance with Rupert Boneham. He was on the Saboga tribe and voted out by Jenna Lewis, Jerri Manthey, and Ethan Zohn.

External links

*imdb name|id=0091377|name=Rudy Boesch
* [http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor8/survivors/bio/rudy.shtml CBS Survivor profile]
* [http://premierespeakers.com/1972/index.cfm Premiere Speakers Bureau profile]