At the age of 16, Reginald Roy Grundy – best known as Reg – was working as a Junior Executive in training in the women’s fashion department of David Jones, when he received a message that the company chairman wanted to speak to him.
He entered the office of Sir Charles Lloyd Jones, who asked “Reg, I believe you’re interested in the arts. Is that right?”.
The squeak of confirmation with which Grundy responded would come to mark the ignition point of a revolution of Australian television.
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Grundy, an only child, was born in Sydney in 1923, but moved to Adelaide shortly thereafter when the Great Depression resulted in his father losing his job.
From a young age, he wanted to be an artist. It didn’t matter what kind – he loved drawing, music, and dancing – Grundy knew the arts were what his future held. “The one thing I could never imagine being was a businessman, that was an anathema to me.”
Grundy’s good grades saw him accepted into The Collegiate School of St Peters, one of Adelaide’s premier schools. It wasn’t long after that he met Max Short, a fellow arts enthusiast with whom he practiced emulating famous radio announcers. His passion for entertainment grew, while his studies were neglected.
At age 15, Grundy had the choice between continuing his education as a boarder, or joining his parents in Sydney, where his father had just found a prestigious new job. He chose the latter.
A year later, Grundy entered the training program for junior executives at department store chain David Jones. He worked in women’s fashion for a time, and was eventually transferred to the design team when Sir Charles Lloyd Jones heard about the young man’s creative pursuits.
With the promotion came an offer to study at the Julian Ashton Art School, known as one of the best in the country. Every Tuesday evening after work, Grundy went to school and practised perfecting his drawing skills. He only lasted 13 weeks.
It wasn’t long after that World War II began. Two days before Christmas 1941, Grundy was called up. He excelled, though he never enjoyed the experience, and within a few years had been promoted to Sergeant. Grundy worked in payroll, and his job required that he make the official announcements across the microphone every morning.
“You’ve got a great voice. You should be in radio,” commented many of the clerks. Grundy liked the idea. He decided that upon completing his time in the army, he would give himself 12 months to make it a reality.
It took eight.
Hired by country radio station 2GZ to read the results of the day’s livestock judging at a Sydney fare, it was only a matter of days before Grundy pitched the idea of interviewing some of the competitors.
The fare ended, and Grundy was offered a full-time job at 2GZ’s studio in the small town of Orange, but he deemed it too small. With a recording of an interview, he reached out to a local radio station, and received a job as a sports commentator.
He had no knowledge, let alone experience, in the role, but that wasn’t going to stop Reg Grundy. “I was just an unknown announcer on a station with a minuscule audience. So I did what I could to get attention.” He found success in the industry over the next decade.
In 1957, while working at Sydney’s 2CH, Grundy came up with the idea of a gameshow called Wheel of Fortune. Differing from the modern version of the show, it featured contestants who told stories about moments in their life where they had committed good deeds. They then spun a wheel, and received whichever prize they landed on.
For two years, the show was a success, and this success culminated in Grundy pitching a television adaptation of the show to Channel 9, where production commenced in 1959.
Founding his production company, the Reg Grundy Organisation, the following year, Grundy went on to create and produce some of Australia’s biggest and longest lasting game shows, including Family Feud, Sale of the Century, and The Price is Right.
Recognition of Grundy’s name grew, but he did his best to remain out of the media’s spotlight. In a rare interview in 1967, Grundy revealed that he believed the future of Australian television lay in soap opera, though he conceded mildly, “I don’t know whether I have the talent or organisation or ability to do these things”.
Six years later, he gave it a try. The result was such classic dramas as Prisoner, Class of ’74, Sons and Daughters, and the iconic Neighbours, which is now shown in 60 countries around the world.
In the early 80s, Grundy made the decision to take his concepts around the world. Interested in both US and European audiences, he and wife Joy Chambers relocated to the Bahamas, ideally located between both continents. Finally, in 1983, he found his break in America when NBC agreed to produce a local version of Sale of the Century.
Grundy’s name, synonymous with the Golden Age of Australian television, soon reached around the world. He estimated that he had produced over 1000 shows, and as of 2013 his fortune was estimated at $760 million.
For all his international esteem, Grundy remained loyal to the Australian industry at heart.
In 1995, Grundy sold the Reg Grundy Organisation to Pearson Television, now known as FremantleMedia. Today, they produce the nation’s biggest reality television shows, of which Grundy was never a fan. “What’s real about having a camera crew recording your every intimate moment?”
He turned his attention to a new pursuit: photography. “Selfishly, I’d like people to understand that I’ve found another way to entertain my ‘audience’. I suppose I’m endeavouring, with this book, to create something that people can own and enjoy. Here’s something I can leave behind that people can actually hold, when I go to the great game show in the sky.”
He released The Wildlife of Reg Grundy in 2005, at the age of 82.
Grundy spent many of his later years travelling the world on Boadicea, his $130 million super-yacht. Gordon Ramsey worked as the on-board chef for two years before finding success on television.
In 2008, Grundy was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, and was awarded an honorary PhD by the University of Queensland in 2004.
He died at his Bermuda home in the arms of his wife on May 8, 2016. He was 92.
“If you haven’t got a passion in life, you might as well lie down and die,” believed Reg Grundy. Until the day he passed away, Grundy remained active in his passions, working seven-day weeks in the pursuit of what he loved.
Though he is now gone, his legacy – one that defined the shape of Australian television as it is today – will never be forgotten.