Reg Grundy was a multi-millionaire media executive and the spouse of late Neighbours star, Joy Chambers. His fortune, daughter, biography, and fun facts explored.
On 17 September 2023, Australian actress Joy Chambers was reported dead as she died in her sleep at her Queensland home on Sunday morning, her family announced.
Before her death, she faced a great loss as her husband and business partner, Reg Grundy, died 7 years before her.
Here’s everything we know about Reg Grundy.
Profile Summary
| Celebrated Name: | Reg Grundy |
| Net Worth: | $900 million |
| Profession: | Australian entrepreneur and media mogul |
| Full Real Name: | Reginald Roy Grundy |
| Date of Birth: | 4 August 1923 |
| Birthplace: | Sydney, Australia |
| Nationality: | Australian |
| Died: | 6 May 2016 (aged 92) Tucker’s Town, Bermuda |
| Education: | University of Queensland |
| Spouses: | Patricia Lola C Powell(m. 1954, divorced); Joy Chambers (m. 1971) |
| Children: | Kim Grundy |
Who was Reg Grundy?
Reg Grundy was an Australian entrepreneur and media mogul.
Born Reginald Roy Grundy AC, OBE, on August 4, 1923, in Sydney, New South Wales, his parents were Roy Grundy and Lillian Lees.
He owned a production company called Reg Grundy Organisation. Tv executive Reg was best known for his numerous television productions.
Before his fame in the entertainment industry, 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.
Reg built a TV empire alongside his wife and was behind famous soaps and game shows such as Sons and Daughters, The Young Doctors, The Restless Years, Sale of The Century and Neighbours.
In the early years of their marriage, Joy wrote for several of his shows and worked alongside him as a production assistant.
Chambers served on the board of Grundys Worldwide, subsequently with her husband they formed media investment company “RG Capital Holdings”, and she pursued a career as a writer of historical novels.
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.
Grundy was honored with recognitions like the Logie Awards Hall of Fame, International Emmy Founders Award, and AACTA Longford Lyell Award, just to mention a few.
Reg Grundy was a multi millionaire with an insane fortune at the time of his death.
How did Reg Grundy die?
Reg Grundy had his last breath on May 6, 2016, aged 92. He died at his home in Tucker’s Town, Bermuda.
Till date, no cause of death has been revealed.
His passing was a great loss to the entertainment industry and hence, social media was flooded with tributes.
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.”
While actress Jackie Woodburne, who worked on Grundy productions Neighbours, Prisoner and The Young Doctors, stated that “Reg was a true groundbreaker in Australian television in the [‘]70s and [‘]80s, and beyond[,] in light entertainment and drama.”
Who was Reg Grundy married to?
Reg Grundy was married twice before he died. His first wife was a woman named Patricia Lola Powell and his second wife was actress Joy Chambers.
He married Patricia at age 31. They tied the knot in 1954 and they had a daughter, Kim Grundy. The couple later divorced.
At age 24, Joy got married to then 48-year-old Grundy. At age 48, he walked down the aisle with his second spouse, Australian actress Joy Chambers.
She met her husband TV executive Grundy at an audition back in the 60s when she was just 18 years old and he was in his 40s.
Joy and Reg remained married for over 40 years: from 1971 until his death in May 2016, aged 92.
Following her spouse’s passing, she remained single and lived in Bermuda where she died on 17 September 2023, at age 76.
Who was Reg Grundy’s second wife, Joy Chambers?
Joy was born Carolyn Joy Chambers in Ipswich, Queensland, in 1947.
She is known for her roles in soap operas – as Rita in The Restless Years, Dr Robyn Porter in The Young Doctors and Rosemary Daniels in Neighbours.
Chambers first played Rosemary, as a guest appearance the businesswoman step-daughter of Anne Haddys character Helen Daniels and then has played Rosemary on a recurring basis until 2010.
She won a Logie Award for Best Female Personality in 1969 and 1970 after starring in her husband’s soap operas.
Aside from acting and making appearances in movies and tv shows, Joy was also a businesswoman, poet, philanthropist, and fine art collector and published several historical fiction novels during her lifetime.
Chambers had a keen interest in poetry and literature which began in childhood, with her father encouraging her deep love of the English word. Chambers is an author of historical novels. She is also the International Patron of the Ipswich Poetry Feast.
Her last book, The Soldier’s Choice, was released in 2014.
What was Reg Grundy’s net worth?
Before Reg passed away, he had an estimated net worth of $900 million. He accrued his fortune for his works as a media guru as well as other endeavors.
The Neighbours creator left behind assets worth $800million overseas and $71million in Australia at the time of his death, per MailOnline.
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.
How many children did Reg Grundy have?
Reg Grundy was a father of one. He had one child, a daughter named Kim Grundy.
He shared his child with his ex-wife, Patricia Powell and had no kids with his second, Joy.
Grundy had an estranged relationship with his daughter and only child. This even made her to change her name from Kim to Viola La Valette.
She also sued her stepmother, Chambers, in a bitter legal battle over Reg’s will upon his death.
Kim Grundy currently lives a private life out of the spotlight.