Oil Heir John Paul Getty III Dies
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
John Paul Getty III, grandson of billionaire oil tycoon John Paul Getty, has died at the age of 54 following a lengthy illness.
Family members say Getty died Saturday at his home northwest of London. The cause of death was not known, but Getty had been in poor health since a drug overdose in 1981 left him paralyzed and partially blind.
Getty gained notoriety after having part of his ear cut off during a 1973 kidnapping in Rome at the age of 16. The oil heir was released after five months in captivity and a ransom payment of nearly $3 million by his grandfather, who initially refused to pay and thought the abduction was a hoax.
Reports say the younger Getty continued to struggle with the after-effects of his abduction throughout his life. As a young man, he suffered from drug and alcohol problems that led to his paralyzing stroke in 1981 at the age of 25.
He later had to turn to the courts to have his father, who had inherited his grandfather's fortune, pay for his medical care.
John Paul Getty III is the father of U.S. television actor Balthazaar Getty.
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