Reg Grundy ‘son’ a lookalike and former mayor

The Melbourne cafe owner awaiting DNA results to determine if he is the long lost son of Reg Grundy is a former mayor with a striking resemblance to the late media mogul.

The Melbourne cafe owner awaiting DNA results to determine if he is the long lost son of Reg Grundy is a former mayor with a striking resemblance to the late media mogul.

Simon Thomas Russell, a two-time mayor in the Bayside region, has provided his DNA amid a court battle over Mr Grundy’s $800 million estate.

The results of that test are anticipated next week, which could end a six-decade mystery for Mr Russell over his paternity.

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Simon Russell, former mayor of Bayside and Sandringham councils. Picture: Supplied

Late media mogul Reg Grundy.

Online records show Mr Russell was born before Mr Grundy married his first wife Lola Powell in 1954.

The Black Rock man has joined the legal fight over the fortune of the TV king, who created hit shows The Price is Right and Neighbours.

Until he became a plaintiff, it was believed Mr Grundy had just one child, Kim Grundy, who has since changed her name to Viola La Valette.

She launched the dispute over her father’s will against her stepmother and main beneficiary Joy Chambers-Grundy under the Succession Act in the NSW Supreme Court in 2017.

Mr Russell earlier told the Herald Sun he did not wish to comment until the DNA results were returned.

“There’s no story until the DNA comes in,” he said.

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Mr Russell pictured in 2008 after he was elected as a councillor for Bayside. Picture: Jason Sammon

Mr Grundy during an interview with A Current Affair. Picture: Supplied

The owner of Roc Cafe is a well known businessman in Bayside and has served for more than a decade as a local councillor.

He was twice elected mayor — first for Sandringham Council in 1994, then for the new Bayside Council in 2001 and 2002 when the cities amalgamated.

Mr Russell’s service on council spanned 14 years, beginning at Sandringham in 1990.

However, he missed out as a candidate for the Southern Ward seat at Bayside in the most recent 2016 vote.

Election pamphlets show Mr Russell, a husband and father of three, moved into the Bayside area when he was six-years-old.

He was on more than a dozen community committees, including as chairman of the Sandringham Welfare Committee, president of Hampton Community Centre and district chairman of Neighbourhood Watch.

He had also served in the Army Reserve.

Solicitor Anthea McIntyre, whose Sydney firm McIntyre Legal was representing Mr Russell, said the background that led him to believe he could be Mr Grundy’s child was a private matter.

Mr Grundy was a pioneer of Australian television, producing game shows and soap operas including Blankety Blanks, Wheel of Fortune, The Young Doctors, Prisoner and Sons and Daughters.

He died in 2016 at the age of 92 in Bermuda, where he lived with his wife Joy.

The matter will return to court next month.

@ashargoon

Originally published as Reg Grundy ‘son’ a lookalike and former mayor