Bill Grundy
William Grundy (18 May 1923 – 9 February 1993) was an English journalist and broadcaster. As the host of Today, a regional magazine programme on Thames Television in London, he gained national attention for an interview with the Sex Pistols in 1976, during which the band swore and traded insults with him on live television. The interview effectively destroyed Grundy's career, elevated the Sex Pistols to notoriety, and signalled the arrival of mainstream punk rock.[1]
For the former VFL player, see Bill Grundy (footballer).
Bill Grundy
9 February 1993 (aged 69)
British
Broadcaster
Today interview with the Sex Pistols
6
Biography[edit]
The son of a foreman at Gorton Locomotive Works (Gorton Tank), Grundy was born in Manchester in 1923 and educated at the University of Manchester, where he read geology.
He began his career as a geologist and as a part-time journalist. When Granada Television began broadcasting in May 1956, Grundy auditioned for the post of newsreader, which at first he held in tandem with his geological work. During his time at Granada, he established himself as a reporter and presenter for the station's regional programming, including People and Places, Northern Newscast, Scene at 6:30 and Granada in the North, alongside such contemporaries as Gay Byrne, Chris Kelly, Michael Parkinson, Mike Scott and Brian Trueman.[2]
On the night of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Grundy anchored a late-night news special for the Granada region, alongside Mike Scott, who broke the story on Scene at 6:30 that evening.[3] He also fronted Granada's coverage of elections, the main political party conferences and the Trades Union Congress.
Grundy was also a producer at Granada, working on the long-running history series All Our Yesterdays and early editions of the current affairs programme World in Action.
In 1967, he produced a children's drama series, The Flower of Gloster (1967). The serial, about four youngsters who take a narrow boat from North Wales to London, was broadcast as a 13-part weekly series. Based on a 1911 book of the same name by E. Temple Thurston, it was Granada TV's first venture into colour. Grundy also wrote a book of the same name, basically an updated version of Thurston's original.[4]
As well as writing a regular column for Punch magazine, Grundy played himself in the 1974 film version of Man About the House, and hosted the Today show in London, after moving from Granada to Thames. In 1975, he presented an educational programme called The Land for Independent Television's schools and colleges programming.