TV Mogul And The Man Behind ABBA's Aus Success Reg Grundy Dies At 92

One of Australia's most prosperous and influential TV and entertainment moguls, Reg Grundy, has passed away at the age of 92.

As Fairfax reports, Grundy was at home in Bermuda and passed away "in the arms of his beloved wife Joy on their Bermuda estate", as reported by Alan Jones on 2GB this morning. He is survived by wife Joy Chambers and child Kim Grundy.

Grundy was widely respected as the man who truly kickstarted ABBA's fame here in Australia — after Molly Meldrum first aired Mamma Mia on Countdown, Grundy managed to fly the quartet over to Australia to appear in a special episode of Bandstand in 1976, which went on to be one of the highest rated specials on TV. 

Sydney-born Grundy later produced ABBA: The Movie and picked up the exclusive license for all ABBA merchandise in Australia through his production company Reg Grundy Productions Pty Ltd, producing a slew of game shows like $ale Of The Century and Scrabble. 

The TV producer was also the brains behind iconic shows such as Neighbours, Sons And Daughters and Prisoners, also creating Reg Grundy's Wheel Of Fortune in 1959. 

Inducted into the Logies Hall Of Fame in 1993, Grundy was such a household name in the '70s that Aussies even took to using his name as rhyming slang for underpants. 

As ABC reports, Bert Newton paid tribute to Grundy as a "true giant" in the media world. "The number of people in the industry would be in the hundreds and thousands who would be considering today the loss of one of the truly greats of television," Newton said.

Alan Jones also said, "So ends a remarkable chapter of a great Australian … Television came and Reg Grundy was full of ideas.

"He tried to sell them to Channel Nine in Sydney but he got the sack, so he went to QTQ in Brisbane where he continued to produce game shows. Reg Grundy, with ideas running right through his head, produced Until Tomorrow, Class of '74, Young Doctors, Restless Years, Prisoner, Sons and Daughters, Waterloo Station, Neighbours and of course then produced Abba: The Movie, which opened in 1977 and it went on, building a phenomenal international empire."

So sad the legendary Reg Grundy has died aged 92. An extraordinary success story. Never lost the passion for creating TV.

— Peter Ford (@mrpford) May 8, 2016

A day after the Logies, Reg Grundy has passed. #RIP #Vale

— Ms Mansk (@msmansk) May 8, 2016

#put out your grundy's. RIP Reg Grundy.

— Benjamin Hearn (@benny_hearn) May 8, 2016

Put out your Reg Grundies Australia.

Vale media pioneer Reg Grundy https://t.co/UlpYI4uTSo pic.twitter.com/dVSUTLkYA8

— Jacob Aldridge (@jacobaldridge) May 8, 2016