Reg Grundy

Reginald Roy Grundy (4 August 1923 – 6 May 2016) 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 (based on a Mark Goodson–Bill Todman production, Match Game) and Wheel of Fortune (based on the US Merv Griffin production of the same name) before later diversifying into soap operas and serials including Prisoner, The Young Doctors, Sons and Daughters and Neighbours, the last of which was inducted into the Logie Hall of Fame in 2005.

Early life Reginald Roy Grundy was born on 4 August 1923 in Sydney, New South Wales, to Roy Grundy and Lillian Lees. Grundy served in the Australian Army during World War II as a Sergeant stationed in Sydney in the 1 Motor Division Signals. He enlisted in December 1941 and was discharged in August 1946.

Career Grundy started his media career as a boxing and general sports commentator for the Sydney radio station 2SM 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.

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. 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.

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.

In 2015, the Australian Financial Review listed Grundy as Australia's 59th-richest individual, with an estimated 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." He was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 2008. He received the International Emmy Founders Award in 1996 and the AFI Raymond Longford Award in 2010. In July 2004, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy by the University of Queensland.

In popular culture Colloquially, in Australia, "Reg Grundies", "Grundies" or "Reggies", is rhyming slang for "undies" (underpants).