Who is Bobby Reid, subject of Fear the Walking Dead title card tribute?

Who is Bobby Reid? If you watched the tail end of tonight’s Fear the Walking Dead season 5 premiere, you likely saw the title card dedicated to him. It was clear upon looking at the tribute that Reid is sadly no longer with us, and upon doing some internet research, we were able to find out more information about who he is and what he means to this show’s family.

Reid, as it turns out, was an important part of the show’s crew as a key grip. For those who don’t know, key grips are responsible for overseeing much of the lighting crew. Without them, the camera-work for a given production fails to run anywhere near as smoothly and they are one of the most important people around for the visual presentation of the show.

Based on a Facebook tribute posted by Fear the Walking Dead cast member Jenna Elfman at the time of Reid’s passing early this year, it was clear that he was beloved by a good many within the show’s internal family:

Only the biggest of love being sent up to [our] #feartwd family member, Bobby Reid, our key grip, who just passed tragically. My heart is with his family. I loved Bobby so much. He was SUCH A GENTLEMAN. And had pride in his professional capacity, a true pro. Always adding value with kindness and competence …. I hate this. I love and appreciate you, Bobby. We are all sending so much love…

Reid had an incredible resume of work beyond just Fear the Walking Dead universe, as his credits include Making It, True Blood, Rosewood, Dollhouse, Ugly Betty, Young & Hungry, and many more projects. He had been working within the camera department on productions for more than twenty years — an incredible career in both TV and film.

For Reid to have a title card following tonight’s Fear the Walking Dead premiere is a true testament to just how popular and loved he was from the cast and crew. This is the highest honor within the world of the show that can be done to honor him — this is a title card that will live on through repeats, through streaming, and hopefully in airings all over the world. No matter when viewers watch Fear the Walking Dead in the future, they will see Reid’s name and seek out more information as to who he was and what he meant to the show. This gives a name to one of the most important people behind the scenes, someone who casual viewers would have never heard of otherwise.

We applaud Fear the Walking Dead for making sure Reid was honored in such a way right from the get-go this season, and we hope that this offers a sense of pride to Bobby’s friends and loved ones. We offer them all of our sympathies through what must still be a difficult time. (Photo: AMC.)