John Paul Getty III
| John Paul Getty III | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
4 November 1956 Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died | 5 February 2011 (aged 54) Wormsley, Buckinghamshire, England, UK |
| Nationality | American (birth) Irish (acquired) |
| Known for | Being kidnapped |
| Spouse(s) | Gisela Martine Getty (née Schmidt; m. 1974-1993; divorced; 1 child) |
| Children | Balthazar Getty |
| Parent(s) |
John Paul Getty, Jr. (deceased) Abigail Harris |
| Relatives |
Jean Paul Getty (grandfather, deceased) George Getty (great-grandfather) Gordon Getty (uncle) Mark Getty (brother) |
John Paul Getty III (/ɡɛti/; 4 November 1956 – 5 February 2011), also known as Paul Getty, was the eldest of the four children of John Paul Getty, Jr. and Abigail (née Harris), and the grandson of oil tycoon Jean Paul Getty. His son is actor Balthazar Getty.
Getty spent most of his childhood in Rome, Italy, while his father headed the Italian division for the Getty family's oil business. His parents divorced in 1964 and his father married again in 1966 to model and actress Talitha Pol. They adopted a hippie lifestyle and spent much time in England and Morocco during the 1960s. Getty stayed in boarding school at St. George's English School (later St. George's British International School), in Rome. In early 1971, he was expelled from St. Georges after having painted the hallways of the school one night, taking inspiration from Charles Manson's Helter Skelter. Later that year, his stepmother died of a heroin overdose in Rome. While his father moved back to England, he remained in Italy, where he lived a bohemian life, frequented nightclubs, and took part in left-wing demonstrations. Endowed with a considerable artistic inclination, he reportedly earned a living making jewelry, selling paintings and appearing as an extra in movies.
At 3 a.m. on 10 July 1973, Getty, then age 16, was kidnapped in the Piazza Farnese in Rome. A ransom note was received, demanding $17 million in exchange for his safe return. When that ransom message arrived, some family members suspected the kidnapping was merely a ploy by the rebellious youngster as he had frequently joked about staging his own kidnapping to extract money from his frugal grandfather. He was blindfolded and imprisoned in a mountain hideout. A second demand was received, but had been delayed by an Italian postal strike.John Paul Getty, Jr. asked his father for the money, but was refused. Getty Sr. argued that were he to pay the ransom, then his 14 other grandchildren could also be kidnapped. In November 1973, an envelope containing a lock of hair and a human ear was delivered to a daily newspaper with a threat of further mutilation of Paul, unless $3.2 million was paid: "This is Paul's ear. If we don't get some money within 10 days, then the other ear will arrive. In other words, he will arrive in little bits."
...
Wikipedia