John Paul Getty III Dies In England

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Feb 8th 2011 at 4:01PM

John Paul Getty III, the grandson of John Paul Getty, once the richest man in the world, died over the weekend in England at the age of 54. Getty is shown at right with his mother Gail Harris in 1973 after his kidnapping by a gang of criminals who held him hostage for five months in Italy when he was just a teenager. His son, actor Balthazar Getty, confirmed Tuesday Feb. 8, 2011 that his father died surrounded by his family at his English mansion in Buckinghamshire, northwest of London. The cause of death has not been released.

The 1973 kidnapping resulted in John Paul Getty III losing an ear. John Paul Getty had refused to help pay the ransom believing his other grandchildren would also be at risk. After the kidnappers sent the boy's ear to a newspaper the ransom was paid. Eight years later in 1981, John Paul Getty III suffered a drug overdose which led to a near-fatal stroke that left him a quadriplegic, virtually blind and confined to a wheelchair. He has been looked after by his mother, Gail, and caregivers.

After the death of John Paul Getty in 1976, John Paul Getty III and his mother later sued John Paul Getty Jr. over the cost of his medical bills. In 1981 a judge ruled that Getty Jr. must pay for his son's medical care. The two were estranged for many years but reportedly made peace before Getty Jr.'s death in 2003 although Getty Jr. left the bulk of his fortune to his other son Mark.

He spent many years at Gurthalougha House in County Tipperary overlooking the river Shannon in Ireland. Getty and his mother Gail had moved into the 12-bedroom Victorian shooting lodge 12 years ago and paid an estimated £1 million. That property is still on the market. Lately he had been living at Wormsley, his father's mansion in the Buckinghamshire Chilterns.

Tags: john paul getty iii, john paul getty iii passed away

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MACDONALDBANK Feb 9th 2011 7:20PM

MACDONALD BANK is filing a $22,000,000,000; war crimes lawsuit in Washington based on Getty�s support for Hitler. J. Paul Getty; FBI File 100.1202, June 26, 1940: Espionage.
An employee at the Getty owned Pierre Hotel in New York City wondered why there were so many Germans being hired and staying at The Pierre during World War II. He called the FBI and the FBI charged J.P. Getty with Espionage, FBI File 100.1202, June 26, 1940. 43,000 people were killed in the UK while J. Paul Getty was in Berlin still shipping oil to Hitler five months before Pearl Harbor; December 7, 1941. The mother of J.P. Getty was German. 2003 documents declassified by UK Warfare Ministry reveal that in Oct. 1941 the pro-Nazi Jean Paul Getty employed and lodged Nazis at his Pierre Hotel in New York City; Nazis who were involved in spying on and sabotaging Allied Forces� war production plants. As aristocrats with treasures of art were executed -- beginning in 1933 -- with the outbreak of war; Getty assiduously added to his vast collection with the Nazis. The Rembrandt of Marten Looten hangs in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The Gainsborough of Christie purchased in 1938 is at The Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

grantdude1 Feb 26th 2011 6:23PM

It turns out J.P. Getty may have been a Nazi;
His family even goes back to Germany.
With Hitler, Goring & Goebbels he did stand;
While trying to undermine the American land!
For paintings & artifacts he did receive
With his oil he was able to deceive?
Hoover & the FBI and Roosevelt they knew
That J.P. Getty & espionage he drew!
Many a young lad and Jew did die
As planes dropped bombs from the sky.
For years while Getty sat in Berlin
He may have committed many a sin.
The ashes and smoke from the chimneys it rose
While old man Getty sat cozy; he chose.
With artwork held tightly under his arm
Still dripping in blood -- as the real owner met harm.
Into the ovens & on meat-hooks, bullets between the eyes
Listen very carefully you can still hear their cries!
While the Gettys sit in England; at their estate at Wormsley
And Gordon sings in San Francisco
With his 727 in tow.
The Getty museum sits atop Malibu
While the corpses of World War 2 scream -- J.P. Getty -- We know you!