Bill Grundy
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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.
[edit] Biography
Born in Manchester, Grundy began his career as a journalist there and was the first television presenter to present The Beatles on Granada Television on October 17, 1962. He appeared on several TV shows, including People and Places and Man About the House, but his greatest claim to fame was as host of the Today show.
His son Tim Grundy is a popular radio presenter in the Manchester area. His other son Nick Grundy lives and teaches English in France.
[edit] The Today show incident
Grundy became infamous in a matter of two minutes due to an incident that occurred when the punk band Sex Pistols and their entourage appeared at short notice on the Today show of December 1, 1976. They were a last minute stand-in for Queen, who were forced to cancel. The Today show was broadcast during daytime hours, at a time when bad language was forbidden.
Grundy proceeded to introduce and provoke the band, with tongue firmly in cheek. He joked that he was under the influence as he introduced them - "...they are as drunk as I am!". Steve Jones when asked by Grundy what the band had done with the £40,000 given to them by their record company said: "Fuckin' spent it" which was apparently not noticed by Grundy at the time. This was followed by two more uses of the word 'fuck' by Jones (only the fourth and fifth occurrences of this ever on British Television). Following this, Johnny Rotten muttered the word "shit" under his breath, but when asked, said that it was nothing but a rude word. Grundy insisted that Lydon repeat what he had said, and then responded mockingly when Lydon complied.
Next, Grundy jokingly began to "chat up" Siouxsie Sioux, who appeared as part of the band's entourage, by saying "let's meet afterwards shall we?" The show went downhill from there. Steve Jones responded by calling Grundy a "dirty sod", a "dirty old man" and "you dirty bastard". Grundy further goaded Jones to "say something outrageous", a challenge Jones was ready to meet. He called Grundy a "dirty fucker" (to which Grundy mockingly responded "what a clever boy") and finally proclaimed "what a fucking rotter". As the show ended, Grundy could be seen saying "oh shit" as the credits rolled and as the band began dancing to the closing theme.
Although Today was only shown in the London ITV region, it became a national story due to coverage and comment by the tabloid press. As a result, Grundy was suspended for two weeks and Today was axed two months later.
The broadcast wrecked Grundy's television career. His presenting slot on What the Papers Say in the early 1980s was his last on national British television, although he continued to present on BBC North West on such shows as "Sweet And Sour" and "The Lancashire Lads" into the mid-80s. He also appeared as an interviewer in ITV's adaptation of "A Kind of Loving" in 1982. 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.
The incident is featured in the Television Personalities' 1978 song "Where's Bill Grundy Now?", from their Part Time Punks EP.
