Reg Grundy
| Reg Grundy | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Reginald Roy Grundy 4 August 1923 Sydney, Australia |
| Occupation | Television Producer |
| Spouse(s) | Patricia Powell (divorced), Joy Chambers (1971– ) |
| Children | Kim Grundy |
Reginald Roy "Reg" Grundy, AC, OBE (born 4 August 1923) is an Australian entrepreneur, and media and television mogul, one of the most successful of his generation.
Early life
He was the only child born to Roy Grundy and Lillian Lees. Before his career in television, he served in the Australian Army during World War II as a Sergeant stationed in Sydney.[1]
Production
Grundy started as a boxing and general sports commentator for radio station 2SM Sydney in 1947. While at 2CH Sydney in 1957, he devised and hosted the Wheel of Fortune game show on radio, moving with that show to television, starting on Channel 9 in 1959. He then founded the Reg Grundy Organisation in 1960. After forming his own production company he began producing game shows for the Australian and overseas market, before eventually branching out into drama in 1973. In 1977, he co-produced ABBA: The Movie. The company has subsequently produced numerous successful television soap operas and drama series including Class of '74, Class of '75, The Restless Years, The Young Doctors, Prisoner, Glenview High, Sons and Daughters and Neighbours, as well as famed 1980s NBC Daytime game shows, Time Machine, $ale of the Century and Scrabble. In 1986, ABC aired Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak. In 1993, NBC aired Scattergories. He subsequently started the US-based company Reg Grundy Productions. In 1995, he sold the Grundy Organisation to the media and publishing company, Pearson PLC, now FremantleMedia.
Personal life and honours
He is married to the actress and author, Joy Chambers who has appeared in several of his soaps. They currently live in Bermuda. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the New Years Honours of 1983,[2] and was made a Companion of the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 2008.[3]
In July 2004, he was awarded an Honorary PhD by the University of Queensland.[4]
Popular culture
Colloquially, in Australia, "Reg Grundies", or "Grundies" is rhyming slang for "undies" (underpants).
He was the owner of a yacht named Boadicea (). This was sold in 2009 ()
Photography
Since 1995, Grundy has indulged in his lifelong passion of wildlife photography. Grundy published a book of photographs in 2005, "The Wildlife of Reg Grundy".[5] In June 2009, an exhibition of photographs of Bermuda Longtail fish by Grundy, "Longtails: The Bermuda Dream", opened in The Rick Faries Gallery at the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art.[6][7]
Current projects
Grundy owns 29% of Photon, an Australian-based advertising, marketing and e-commerce group.[8]
References
- ↑ World War II Nominal Roll
- ↑ It's an Honour – Officer of the Order of the British Empire
- ↑ ABC News (2008). Aussies honoured on Queen's Birthday. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
- ↑ Honorary doctorate
- ↑ Life through Grundy's lens, The Age. 16 August 2005. Retrieved 5 September 2009
http://www.theage.com.au/news/books/grundys-lens/2005/08/15/1123958006174.html - ↑ "Longtails: The Bermuda Dream" Artist Reg Grundy AC OBE. Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art. Retrieved 5 September 2009
http://www.bermudamasterworks.com/1/events/404?id=75af24fa20de71240c5bb840b7e56783 - ↑ Fascination with Longtaails, The Royal Gazette, 19 August 2009. Retrieved 5 September 2009
http://www.theroyalgazette.com/siftology.royalgazette/Article/article.jsp?articleId=7d989af3003000f - ↑ Photon Group (PGA), The Australian, 19 June 2009. Retrieved 18 September 2009
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25656714-23634,00.html
External links
- Reg Grundy at the Internet Movie Database
- Reg Grundy on MBC Museum of Broadcast Communications
- World War II Nominal Roll:
- Ancestry.co.uk Website:
- The Photon Group:
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