Gourt Home::Gourt :: Bill Grundy
William Grundy (February 20, 1923 - February 9, 1993), commonly called Bill, was a British television presenter and was the host of Thames Television's Today show in the 1970s.
Biography
Grundy began his career as a journalist in Manchester and was the first television presenter to present the Beatles on Granada Television on October 17 1962.
Grundy later found infamy for letting himself be ambushed by his guests, the punk band Sex Pistols and their entourage. They featured at short notice on the Today show of December 1 1976 as a last minute stand-in for Queen, who were forced to cancel.
Having admitted to being drunk as he introduced them - "...they are as drunk as I am!", during the interview he patronized them and goaded them to swear after Johnny Rotten casually muttered the word "shit". (Steve Jones' earlier profanity went unnoticed.) Grundy later made an ill-concealed attempt to "chat up" Siouxsie of Siouxsie and the Banshees who was part of the band's entourage (she was then 19, he was 53). The show went downhill from there. Steve Jones responded by calling Grundy a "dirty bastard" and a "fucking rotter". Although Today was only shown in the London ITV region, it became a national "rumpus" (see picture) as the tabloid press stoked widespread outrage. As a result, Grundy was suspended for two weeks and Today was axed two months later.
The clip often features on programmes such as British Television's Most Embarrassing Moments.
The broadcast wrecked his television career. His presenting slot on What the Papers Say in the early 1980s was his last on British television. Grundy died of a heart attack on 9 February 1993 at the age of 69. After his death, the job of writing his obituary went to his friend and colleague Brian Inglis. On February 11 1993, Inglis himself died.
In 1978 the punk band Television Personalities recorded an EP entitled Where's Bill Grundy Now?
See also
External links
British television presenters | 1923 births | 1993 deaths | Sex Pistols
"Bill Grundy"