12.12.2010Tony Gruner, who has died aged 89, became known as the "king of the gameshows". After working as a local newspaper reporter, he entered the world of television in his early middle age when he became a salesman at the London office of an American TV company. The job required Tony to sell the format of gameshows that were popular in the US to British television channels, resulting in hits such as Play Your Cards Right with Bruce Forsyth, Blind Date with Cilla Black, and Family Fortunes, presented by Bob Monkhouse.
He was born into an upper-middle class family in Stamford Hill, north London. He attended Mercers' school in the City of London and Regent Street Polytechnic (now the University of Westminster). In 1944, he married Jean, whom he had met at a Communist party rally the previous year.
Tony started out as a reporter on the Hampstead and Highgate Express in 1947 and became the secretary of the North London branch of the National Union of Journalists. He was also organising secretary of the Hampstead Communist party, but left the Communist party after the Hungarian uprising in 1956. After the Ham and High, he worked part-time on the film industry magazines Kine Weekly and the Daily Film Renter. But with four young children to feed, he was on the lookout for full-time work when the television opportunity arose.
Once his new television career had taken off, Tony was able to produce his own programmes. As a child, one of his favourite books had been Anna Sewell's Black Beauty. He suggested televising the story and was given the go-ahead by London Weekend Television to produce the series. It was a big success in 1972, tapping into the nostalgia for a gentler age.
Tony continued selling gameshows to television companies throughout Europe until his retirement 10 years ago.
