Reg Grundy, Australian television mogul, Died at 92

  Media

Reginald Roy “Reg” Grundy was born on August 4, 1923, and died on May 6, 2016.

He was an Australian entrepreneur, and media and television mogul.

He was one of the pioneers and most successful of his generation.

Reg was also the creator of many TV hits starting with game shows like Wheel of Fortune and Blankety Blanks and later soap operas Neighbours, Prisoner, Sons and Daughters and The Young Doctors.

He began his media career as a boxing and general sports commentator for the Sydney radio station 2SM in 1947.

In 1957, when he worked at 2CH Sydney , Grundy conceived and hosted the Wheel of Fortune game show on radio, which moved to Channel Nine two years later.

Reg founded his own production company Reg Grundy Organisation in 1960, and began producing game shows for the Australian and overseas market, before eventually branching out into drama in 1973.

During 1977, he co-produced ABBA: The Movie.

His company went on to produce several 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.

He was one of the first persons to sell an Australian drama to America (Prisoner) and the first to sell an Australian quiz show to the UK (Going for Gold).

He decided to start the US-based company Reg Grundy Productions, that produced the 1980s NBC daytime game shows $ale of the Century and Scrabble, as well as Time Machine, Bruce Forsyth’s Hot Streak for ABC, and Scattergories.

His company,the Grundy Organisation was ultimately owned by Grundy Worldwide Ltd, based in the tax haven of Bermuda.

During 1995, Reg sold the Grundy Organisation to the media and publishing company, Pearson PLC, now FremantleMedia for $386 million.

He owned the private media investment company RG Capital which had shares in several FM radio stations.

He also had shares in WAM Capital, Austereo, Argus Solutions and Photon Group.

Lola Powell was his first wife in 1954, and they had a daughter Kim.

When he divorced, Reg Grundy married the actress and author Joy Chambers in 1971.

They met at a television audition in the 1960s.

She was 18 and Grundy was in his forties.

The couple renewed their vows several times.

They moved to Bermuda in 1982.

Reg Grundy passed away at 92 yrs old.