Paul Getty

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name = Sir John Paul Getty


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birth_name = Eugene Paul Getty
birth_date = September 7, 1932
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death_date = April 17, 2003
death_place = London
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spouse = Abigail "Gail" Harris (1956-64)
Talitha Pol (1966-71)
Victoria Holdsworth (1994-his death)
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children = John Paul Getty III (b. 1956),
Aileen Getty (b. 1957) [ Aileen Getty (b. 1957) is the AIDS activist formerly married to Elizabeth Taylor's son Christopher Wilding, and now married since 2005 to Bartolomeo Ruspoli (b 1978), a son of Prince Alessandro (Dado) Ruspoli by the actress Debra Berger. The columnist Liz Smith made several mistakes in reporting the second marriage, notably that there were two Aileen Gettys and that the first one (Liz Taylor's ex-daughter-in-law) had died, and that the bride's father had died in 1971 (he was very much alive). Source of original mistakes: Liz Smith. [http://entertainment.tv.yahoo.com/entnews/ps/20050426/111451157701.html Heirs Plan Secret Wedding] , Page Six Tue 26 April 2005. "The New York Times" mentioned the marriage in [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/10/garden/10spain.html an August 2006 article on her mother-in-law's new house] . Retrieved 21 November 2007.] ,
Mark Getty (b. 1960),
Ariadne Getty (b. 1962),
Tara Getty (b. 1968)
parents = Jean Paul Getty, Sr. and Ann Rork
relatives = Gordon Getty


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Sir John Paul Getty, KBE (September 7, 1932 – April 17, 2003) was a wealthy American-born British philanthropist and book collector. He was the son of Jean Paul Getty, Sr. (1892-1976), one of the richest men in the world at the time, and his wife Anne Rork.

The family's wealth was the result of the oil business founded by George Franklin Getty. At birth he was given the name Eugene Paul Getty, but in later life he adopted, and was better known by, the names Paul Getty, John Paul Getty, Jean Paul Getty, Jr. and John Paul Getty II.

His father expected him to prove himself: his first job was pumping gas for $100 a month. He attended Saint Ignatius High School and the University of San Francisco, but he did not graduate from college. He was drafted into the U.S. Army to serve in Korea.

His first marriage was to Abigail "Gail" Harris, a former water polo champion. They divorced in 1966 or 1967, having had four children including John Paul Getty III and Mark Getty. He subsequently married the Dutch actress, model and style icon Talitha Pol (stepdaughter of Augustus John's daughter Poppet). She died of a heroin overdose in 1971; by her, he had another son Tara Gabriel Getty in 1968. [J. Paul Getty. Jr. [http://www.nndb.com/people/157/000025082/] . Retrieved 21 November 2007. At some point, Tara dropped his third and fourth names, originally being named Tara Gabriel Galaxy Gramophone Getty. In 1999, an Irish paper revealed that he and six other family members had been granted Irish passports and citizenship, and he was now known as Tara Gabriel Getty.] A long-time Anglophile, [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1386478.stm BBC News | UK | Profile: Sir John Paul Getty II ] ] he became a British citizen in 1997. In 1986, he was awarded an honorary knighthood for services to causes ranging from cricket (a sport he came to love despite his American upbringing), to art, to the Conservative Party. His honorary knighthood was converted to the full honour in 1998.

Personal problems

Paul Getty moved to Rome as head of Getty Oil Italiana. In 1973, his oldest child and son, Paul III, was kidnapped in Rome and held in the Calabrian Mountains, chained to a stake in a cave. Getty did not have enough money to pay the US$17 million ransom demand, and his father refused to help, saying "I have 14 other grandchildren, and if I pay one penny now, then I will have 14 kidnapped grandchildren." However, when one of his son's ears was delivered by mail to a newspaper in Rome (delivery had been delayed by three weeks because of a postal strike), his father finally agreed to help out with the ransom payment.

In 1976, Paul Getty's father died, but had essentially written his son out of his will, leaving him $500,000. Getty's money came from a family trust and his grandmother. After his father's death, he was able to stop using drugs. Getty's daughter Aileen was married to Elizabeth Taylor's son, Christopher Wilding. Elizabeth Taylor attributes her AIDS activism to Aileen's contraction of AIDS. Aileen recently married Bartolomeo Ruspoli, son of the late European playboy Dado Ruspoli.

Over the next decade Getty suffered from depression and, in 1984 in a final attempt to end his drug addiction, checked himself into a London clinic. While there he received a visit from the prime minister Margaret Thatcher to thank him for his donation to the National Gallery. She reportedly helped speed his recovery by telling him, "My dear Mr. Getty, we mustn't let things get us down, must we? We'll have you out of here as soon as possible."

Philanthropy

Getty gave over £140m to the cause of culture. The National Gallery alone received £50m from him. He was awarded a KBE in 1987, but as a foreign national could not use the title "Sir". In December 1997 he was granted British citizenship and immediately renounced his US nationality. The Queen is reported to have commented: 'Now you can use your title, that's nice.' In 1994 he married his third wife, Victoria Holdsworth, who had helped him conquer his drug addiction.

He became greatly interested in cricket after being introduced to the sport by Mick Jagger. He even built a replica cricket ground of The Oval at Wormsley Park, his 2,500 acre (10 km²) Buckinghamshire estate. [ [http://slick.org/deathwatch/mailarchive/msg01017.html Deathwatch: John Paul Getty II, billionaire , 70] . Page checked 21 November 2007.] He became President of Surrey County Cricket Club for one year, and gave money to Lord's Cricket Ground to build a new stand. He combined his loves of cricket and books when he purchased the ownership of "Wisden", the famous publishers of the cricketing almanack. Getty built an extraordinary library at Wormsley, collecting such treasures as a first edition of Chaucer, Ben Jonson's annotated copy of Spenser, and Shakespeare's First, Second, Third Folio, and Fourth Folios. He was a notable member of the exclusive Roxburghe Club, famous amongst book collectors.

His personal fortune was estimated as about £1.6 billion. He donated significant support for the National Gallery, the British Museum, the British Film Institute, Hereford Cathedral, St Paul's Cathedral and the Imperial War Museum. Some of his donations, especially contributions towards the purchases of Canova's "The Three Graces" by The National Galleries of Scotland [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D01E1DE1330F930A2575BC0A962958260 Getty son pledges money to keep statue in Britain.] "New York Times", August 13, 1994. Retrieved August 31, 2008.] and the "Madonna of the Pinks" by Raphael [Vallely, Paul. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20070719/ai_n19374449 Don't keep it in the family.] "The Independent" (London), July 19, 2007. Retrieved August 31, 2008.] , foiled acquisition efforts by the J. Paul Getty Museum endowed by his father. In June 2001, he gave £5 million to the Conservative Party. Getty also endowed a charitable trust that supports projects that promote the arts, conservation and social welfare.

Death

He died at age 70 in the London Clinic, after being admitted for treatment for a recurrent chest infection. Sir Paul Getty received posthumous recognition for his philanthropic work when he received the prestigious Beacon Fellowship Prize forhis extraordinary public and private contributions to charitable causes.

Notes

References

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2956897.stm BBC News obituary for Paul Getty]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1215.html New York Times obituary of J Paul Getty]

External links

* Alex B. (2000) [http://www.angelfire.com/celeb/millers/gettys2.html Getty family genealogy] . Page last updated on September 6, 2000.