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Vale: Reg Grundy

Legendary TV producer, whose production company blazed a trail of iconic Australian productions, has died, aged 92.

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Legendary TV producer Reg Grundy, whose production company blazed a trail of iconic Australian TV productions has died, aged 92.

“Reg Grundy has passed away in the arms of his beloved wife Joy on their Bermuda estate,” Alan Jones said on 2GB radio on Monday.

Grundy was responsible for a swathe of hit shows including The Young Doctors, Prisoner, Sons and Daughters, Neighbours, Wheel of Fortune, Family Feud and Sale of the Century.

Across generations it was Grundy Productions, which would eventually become Fremantle Media, and Crawford Productions that dominated Australian TV production.

News of his death comes a day after Australian TV’s ‘night of nights’, the Logie Awards.

He once described Prisoner as a personal highlight, and the show that opened the doors to him in the US.

“It was an extraordinary show and we had some marvellous, marvellous performances from some of the women in the show.”

He said Kylie Minogue was reluctant to acknowledge Neighbours when her pop career was taking off.

“She went on to great success and I applaud that. But she said that we couldn’t use the tapes, because she didn’t want us to use them. And we said ‘No. We own the tapes,’ and she had to accept it,” he said.

But in 2010 he told A Current Affair TV had changed a lot since his day.

“Shows are put on and taken off almost overnight,” he said.

“Doesn’t mean to say that there aren’t people with heart and instinct there, but I think that money is more important and it probably has to be because of the financial situations.”

Tim Worner, CEO, Seven West Media said, “All of us in television owe a deep thank you to Reg Grundy. In many respects he was ahead of his time, a true pioneer who broke new ground in television and developed and nurtured the careers of so many in front of and behind the camera, and took Australian television to the world.”

Tracy Grimshaw, who interviewed in 2010 him, said, “Like so many Australians, I grew up with Reg Grundy’s vision, without having a clue about the man behind the ubiquitous productions. RG (he didn’t like being called Reg) 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 one who spoke with him. He was shy talking about himself…but not reticent. He remembered everything. He remained passionate about television and emotional about the company he had finally decided to sell some years before. He was a pioneer of our industry. And a devoted husband to Joy, who will be feeling his loss so deeply today. Vale RG. And thanks.”

A Current Affair will replay an interview this evening.

Reg Grundy is already an inductee in the Logie Hall of Fame.

Corrected.

Source: News Corp Fairfax

19 Responses

  1. How eery was the timing around the same time as the Logies. A great loss, thanks for the memories Reg! On a side note, i still remember his wife Joy in her Neighbours role as Rosemary Daniels back in 1986, & i have just found thru imdb she later reprised the role (i stopped watching mid 90’s). She was not a bad actress, not sure why she didn’t do more acting work.

  2. Reg Grundy is so iconic that his name has become part of Australian rhyming slang as in Reg Grundy’s equalling Undies … absolute legend and his kind are sorely missed.

    Vale.

  3. Very sad news. I remembered in 2008 when he was speechless back in the Queens Birthday Honour List. He was recognised for his philanthropy during that time.

  4. Grundy Productions was also the production company for Who Wants To Be A Millionaire from 1999-2006.

    Oh I so miss those episodes. Why can’t 9 replay ALL those episodes (I am aware a select few are available on Youtube)
    All that they need to do is to edit out the old “Call this number to have a shot to become a contestant.” segments.

  5. Is this the same Reg Grundy who lived in the Bahamas to avoid paying tax in Australia? And wasn’t he one of the biggest donors to the Liberal Party?

    1. Bermuda not Bahamas. Just down the road from Bruce Gordon. Possibly a little tacky having a dig at where he chose to live on an article announcing his passing.

    2. “to avoid paying tax in Australia”. That’s a rather wild assumption. If I had a choice between Melbourne and Bermuda (having visited there) I know where I would be residing.
      Yes, a company associated with RG gave $200,000 to the LNP washing machine. Reg and Joy also donated $500,000 to NIDA. They gave $5,000 to repair a Henry Lawson statue in Ipswich. $15,000 to the Ipswich Flood Appeal – and there would be hundreds more donations, however they are extremely private individuals and they always prefer that any donation they make, political or philanthropic, remains anonymous.
      It could be said that any tax they may have to pay if they lived in Australia would be more than offset by their donations, which would be tax deductible.

  6. Reg’s biggest win was his wife Joy Chambers, a panelist on a show he made at QTQ9 (I think), she aged 18, he in mid-40s. Fifty years later…
    “Australia owes a lot to Reg Grundy for his pioneering work in the new medium,” Bert Newton said some years ago. “The early years were tough and only the creative and visionary survived.”

  7. This is huge! He was a titan of Australian entertainment. Hector Crawford, Reg Grundy – they don’t get bigger than Reg. And what trailblazing shows he created. We won’t see the likes of him again, i suspect. He lived a long and illustrious life.

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