Survivor paid tribute to Sean Foley at the end of the December 10 episode.
“In loving memory of Sean Foley, our friend and colleague,” read the kind message as the credits rolled.
Of course, the message led to many Survivor fans becoming very curious about Sean’s identity. Much like how the season premiere ended with a message about Vince Costello.
As a reminder, Vince was a Location Manager for the long-running reality competition show. He passed away due to live cancer after nine years of work on the show.
Who was Sean Foley on Survivor?
Sean Foley had been with Survivor for years. He began as an editor for the hit series, racking up 131 episode credits from 2000 to 2006.
Later (beginning in 2004), he would work on the main title design, which meant he helped to craft the opening sequences where players were introduced.
His work on the visual effects and his time as a director of photography spanned 143 episodes from 2004 to 2015. His final season with the show was Survivor: Cambodia in 2015.
In addition to his time with Survivor, Sean served as an executive producer for 30 episodes of Naked and Afraid XL from 2015 to 2017. He also worked on 27 episodes of Naked and Afraid, 30 episodes of Naked and Afraid: Last Man Standing, and eight episodes of Naked and Afraid: Apocalypse.
Sean was nominated five times for an Emmy Award for his work on Survivor. He also award received nominations for his work on Contender and Martha, notching six total Emmy nominations over his career.
A bio shared by Sean Foley
“Sean Foley’s 25-year career in entertainment began while he was still an aspiring student at UCLA. He has worked as a visual effects artist, sound mixer, camera operator, editor, and producer, eventually becoming an Executive Producer and Showrunner on programs for CBS, the CW, Animal Planet, A&E, Discovery, YouTube Originals and Amazon. In past decade, Sean has led a variety of acclaimed documentary series including Whale Wars, Naked and Afraid XL, Celebrity Undercover Boss and The Age of A.I. His work has taken him all across the US, and to 27 different countries. Sean has been nominated for seven Emmys in three different categories,” reads the full IMDb bio Sean wrote for himself.
How did Sean Foley die?
A Facebook post by Kyle Hennington from Naked and Afraid sheds more light on the passing of Sean Foley. One of the comments stated that he died from brain cancer.
“The Naked and Afraid community has lost a great man. Sean Foley was one of the pioneers from the start of the show and helped engineer the XL spinoffs into the phenomenon they became. He touched so many lives and was the kindest human. Although I never had the privilege of formally meeting Sean in person, I spoke with him several times since my challenge. He was always so polite and cheerful and listened to what I had to say. He will be greatly missed. Rest easy my friend,” Kyle Hennington wrote.
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