REG GRUNDY TIMELINE (1987-2020)
1987
Reg became the first Australian to sell a quiz show to the UK with GOING FOR GOLD, which premiered in October 1987 on BBC1, where it ran for ten years. The show also found great success as QUESTIONS POUR UN CHAMPION in France, where it is still in production today after 31 years.
Opening credits from the 1989 season of GOING FOR GOLD (UK).
Opening credits from Grundy Worldwide productions HOT STREAK, QUE LE MEILLEUR GAGNE, QUESTIONS POUR UN CHAMPION, RAP KLAP, RUCK ZUCK, SALE OF THE CENTURY, HOPP ODER TOP and DAI SOU BUT.
1988
One of Reg’s legacies is the idea of ‘parochial internationalism’; that rather than simply licensing formats to allow others to produce copies in their own markets, the Reg Grundy Organisation would produce local versions of the shows via fully owned production companies in each country. Reg believed that people all over the world were essentially the same, so a show that is successful in one country has a good chance in another if it is locally produced and features local people.
And so, on 20 May 1988, Grundy Worldwide Limited was established. The company was made up of completely separate, local Grundy production companies in countries around the world, including: Australia, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Belgium, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Chile, Italy, India, Indonesia, Paraguay, and Sweden.
Early examples of Grundy Worldwide Limited locally produced adaptations include: GOEDE TIJDEN, SLECHTE TIJDEN (GOOD TIMES, BAD TIMES) (1990), a Dutch remake of THE RESTLESS YEARS that was followed by a German remake, GUTE ZEITEN, SCLECHTE ZEITEN (1992); RUCK ZUCK (Germany, 1989-1996) and RAP KLAP (Belgium, 1990-1991), both remakes of the Reg Grundy Productions American game show, BRUCE FORSYTH’S HOT STREAK; and the German remake of SONS AND DAUGHTERS, titled VERBOTENE LIEBE (FORBIDDEN LOVE) (1994-1995).
Reg with wife Joy in their Bermuda home.
1993
Reg received the TV Week Hall of Fame Gold Logie for his lifetime services to Australian television.
1995
Reg sold Grundy Worldwide Limited to the UK-based Pearson PLC, now FremantleMedia. The day the sale was announced, he personally called senior executives of Grundy production companies around the world to personally thank each one for the part they had played in the success of Grundy Worldwide Limited.
1996
Reg received the Founders’ Award at the 1996 International Emmy Awards ‘for accomplishments of an individual whose work is recognised throughout the world’. The Founders’ Award recognises individuals distinguished by their creative achievements, whose work is recognised throughout the world, crossing cultural boundaries to touch our common humanity. Other recipients include Sir David Attenborough, Oprah Winfrey, Al Gore and Steven Spielberg.
Reg Grundy accepting the Founders’ Award at the 1996 International Emmy Awards.
Reg Grundy taking wildlife photos while on safari in South Africa.
2005
After selling Grundy Worldwide Limited, Reg redirected his attention to pursuing his lifelong passion for wildlife photography, travelling around the world, and becoming an expert in the field. In 2005 he published The Wildlife of Reg Grundy, a book showcasing his wildlife photography from around the world.
Reg went on to publish two more photography books: Bermuda Longtail in 2009, which features Reg’s images of the tropic Longtail bird that nests in Bermuda, and Mother and Child: Wildlife Photography in 2015, which features a collection of photographs taken by Reg on his travels around the world over four decades, showcasing a bond shared by all living beings, the bond between mothers and their children.
Reg’s photography has also been showcased at exhibits around the world, including New York, Los Angeles, Australia and is also permanently on exhibit at the National Museum of Bermuda.
2008
Reg received a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours of 2008 for his 'service to the entertainment and television industry as the creator and producer of television programs depicting national cultural identity, to the promotion of Australia internationally, and to the community through philanthropic contributions to a range of organisations'.
Reg Grundy receiving a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2008.
2010
Reg is awarded the AFI Raymond Longford Award, the highest accolade the Australian Academy (then the Australian Film Institute) can bestow upon an individual.
2020
AACTA, in partnership with Joy Chambers Grundy, establish the AACTA Reg Grundy Award. Honouring Reg’s hard work, entrepreneurial spirit and pioneering work in television formats, the Award will provide $50,000 in prize money and development funds annually - the largest prize of its kind in the world - to any Australian with the best new idea for a television entertainment format that has genuine prospects for national and international success.
