Reginald Roy Grundy was an Australian entrepreneur and media mogul, best known for his numerous television productions. He was the producer of various Australian game shows such as Blankety Blanks and Wheel of Fortune, before later diversifying into soap operas and serials including Prisoner, The Young Doctors, Sons and Daughters and Neighbours, which was inducted into the Logie Hall of Fame in 2005.
Grundy started his media career as a boxing and general sports commentator for the Sydney radio station2SM in 1947. While he was working at 2CH Sydney in 1957, Grundy conceived and hosted the Wheel of Fortune game show on radio, which moved to Channel Nine two years later. He founded his own production companyReg Grundy Enterprises in 1960, and began producing game shows for the Australian and overseas market, before eventually branching out into drama in 1973. In 1977, he co-produced . The company produced several successful television soap operas and drama series including Class of '74, The Restless Years, The Young Doctors, Prisoner, Glenview High, Sons and Daughters and Neighbours. Grundy was the first person to sell an Australian drama to America and the first to sell an Australian quiz show to the UK. He subsequently started the US-based company Reg Grundy Productions, which produced the 1980s NBC daytime game shows Sale of the Century and Scrabble, as well as Time Machine for NBC, Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak for ABC and Scattergories also for NBC. The Grundy Organisation was ultimately owned by Grundy Worldwide Ltd, based in the tax haven of Bermuda. In 1995, he sold the Grundy Organisation to the media and publishing company Pearson PLC, now Fremantle, for $386 million. Grundy owned the private media investment company RG Capital which had shares in several FM radio stations. Grundy also had shares in WAM Capital, Austereo, Argus Solutions and Photon Group.
Photography
Grundy had a lifelong passion for wildlife photography. He published a book of photographs in 2005, The Wildlife of Reg Grundy. In June 2009, an exhibition of photographs of Bermuda Longtail birds by Grundy, "Longtails: The Bermuda Dream", opened in The Rick Faries Gallery at the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art.
Personal life
Grundy married Patricia Lola Powell in 1954 and they had a daughter, Kim. After Grundy and Powell divorced, he married the actress and author Joy Chambers in 1971. The couple met at a television audition in the 1960s. Chambers was 18 and Grundy was in his forties. They renewed their vows several times. Grundy and Chambers moved to Bermuda in 1982. In 2015, the Australian Financial Review listed Grundy as Australia's 59th richest individual, with a wealth of $809 million. Grundy published an eponymous autobiography in 2010. He was the owner of a yacht named Boadicea, which was sold in 2009.
Death
Grundy died on 6 May 2016 at his Bermuda home, with his family by his side. No cause was given. After his death was announced, many tributes were paid to Grundy. Presenter Andrew Denton commented "I'm sure the record will show that more Australians have watched more hours of Reg Grundy television than that of any other individual." While actress Jackie Woodburne, who worked on Grundy productions Neighbours, Prisoner and The Young Doctors, stated that "Reg was a true groundbreaker in Australian television in the 70s and 80s, and beyond in light entertainment and drama." Tracy Grimshaw, who interviewed Grundy in 2010, said "RG was a pioneer in game shows, in drama, in soapies. He was a star maker. But he totally rejected the limelight. He only gave one television interview in his life, and I was privileged and fascinated to be the one who spoke with him." Grimshaw's interview with Grundy was rebroadcast during the 9 May edition of A Current Affair. Ian Hogg, whose company bought Grundy Organisation, announced that FremantleMedia were thinking of a permanent way to honour Grundy.
