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Sir Paul Getty. Photo By Unimates2018 –

Top 10 Facts about John Paul Getty Jr.   

鈥淚 am privileged to be the heir to huge wealth, and I regard myself as a custodian of that money for the benefit of people who need it more than I do鈥�. 

John Paul Getty Jr. 

Sir Paul Getty was born Eugene Paul Getty but is commonly known as John Paul Getty Jr. He was a British book collector and the United Kingdom鈥檚 most generous philanthropist. 

Having always considered himself more European than American in his tastes, Getty swapped his U.S. citizenship for a U.K. passport in 1997, not for social standing but as a sign of his love for Britain and its traditions.  

He was lucky to be born into the wealthy Getty family, whose wealth was from a successful oil business that had been founded by George Franklin Getty, his grandfather. There is a Getty Museum in California and you can read about it here.

Here are the top 10 facts about Sir John Paul Getty Jr. 

1. Paul Getty Jr. Was Born On A Ship  

John Paul Jr. was born on 7th September 1932, on board a ship in the waters near Genoa, Italy. His parents were on a cruise and his birth was registered at La Spezia. He grew up in the state of California, initially being raised in Los Angeles but later moving to San Francisco. 

Paul Jr. was the third of five sons born to J. Paul Getty by different mothers. His father was an oil heir and one of the richest men in the world at the time. Young Paul Jr鈥檚 mum was his fourth wife. The boy attended St. Ignatius College Preparatory and the University of San Francisco. 

While in school, he had a great interest in music and he loved reading all kinds of books. 

2. His Mother Was An Actress 

Sir Paul’s mum, Ann Rork. She was a silent film actress. Photo By Unknown –

Paul Jr.鈥檚 mum was Ann Rork, a famous silent film actress in the 1920鈥檚 and 30鈥檚. She is remembered for her acting in The Blonde Saint and The Notorious Lady, silent films which were produced by her father Sam E. Rork, a film producer at First National Pictures. 

Ann married Mr. Getty as her first husband. They had two sons, Paul Getty Jr. and his brother Gordon Getty. The two got married in 1932 till their divorce in 1936. Ann would get married four more times after that, with her fifth and last husband being Dr. Rudolph A. Light, a Pharmaceutical Company heir, and Professor of Neurosurgery. 

Paul has a half-sister, Donna Wilson, from his mum鈥檚 second marriage. Ann died of lung cancer at 79 years in January 1988. She was buried with her husband Dr. Rudolph Light, at the Royal Palm Memorial Gardens in West Palm Beach, Florida. 

Jean Dujardin is another silent film actor you can read about here.

3. He Served In The US Army  

Paul Jr. served in the United States in the Army. He was drafted in 1950 and he served in the Korean War. He spent the early to mid-1950s working at the American headquarters in Seoul, South Korea. 

After his discharge from the U.S Army, he met Abigail Harris who was a water polo champion. The two got married in early 1956.  

You can read about the South Korean War Veteran Memorial here. 

4. He Was Appointed To Head The Family Business In Italy 

After coming back from South Korea and with a family depending on him, Paul Jr. went to his younger brother Gordon to ask for a job. At the time, Gordon was the vice president of the Getty family Petroleum business. 

His brother gave him a job pumping gas at a Tidewater gas station in Marin County. After a year, his father was impressed and having not seen each other in 12 years, he invited his son and his family to visit him in 麻豆APP.  

Paul Sr. gave Paul Jr. a job to head the Getty Oil business in Rome, Italy as the president. By then Paul Jr had four children with his wife Abigail but they later got divorced. He was in charge for 6 years after which he resigned choosing a freewheeling lifestyle of drugs and parties while growing his hair and adopting colorful velvet kaftans. 

5. His Second Wife Was A Stylish Actress  

Paul Jr. with his second wife, Talitha Pol. Photo By Keystone –  

Paul Jr. divorced his wife of 11 years in 1964. His second marriage was to the Dutch actress, model, and style icon Talitha Pol, in December 1966. The couple became party animals, traveling the world and living between Rome, Italy, and Marrakesh, Morocco.  

The two posed for an iconic photograph on a rooftop in Marrakesh, Morocco in January 1969. The photo, taken by Patrick Lichfield, shows Talitha Getty crouched down leaning on a wall and her husband in the background in a hooded djellaba and sunglasses. The photo is part of the collection at the National Portrait Gallery in London. 

Sadly, the couple slowly became heroin addicts and were now living off his income from the family trust. In 1969, he and Talitha separated when she decided to focus on becoming sober and she moved to London with their son Tara while he remained in Rome. 

6. He Left Italy After Talitha Died In His House 

After living apart for several years, Talitha, now sober, asked for a divorce. Paul convinced her to visit him in Rome to try and reconcile because he still loved her. She left for Rome on 9th July 1971 with her lawyer鈥檚 consent. Divorce proceedings would be easier if she could show that she had attempted to save the marriage. 

Two days later, on the morning of 11th July 1971, she was found dead. Talitha had died of an accidental heroin overdose in their Rome apartment. Though he was not a suspect in her death, Paul Jr. fled Italy for London, afraid his drug addiction would result in his being indicted and potentially imprisoned. 

He lived in the U.K. for the rest of his life, where he would spend years in rehabilitation programs or mired in depression. In 1994, he married Victoria Holdsworth, an English philanthropist, and former model. She played a major role in reintroducing him to public life and helping him overcome his drug addiction. 

7. Sir Paul Jr.鈥檚 Son Was Kidnapped 

John Paul Getty III after the kidnapping. Photo By Umberto –

Paul Jr.鈥檚 firstborn son with Abigail, John Paul Getty III, was born in November 1956. In July 1973, when the boy was 17 years, he was kidnapped in Rome by Italian gangsters and they held him in the Calabrian Mountains, chained to a stake in a cave. 

Paul Jr. did not have enough money to pay the ransom demand so he asked his father to assist but the stingy old man argued the other 14 grandchildren would also be kidnapped. He only paid the ramson, after withholding tax, when one ear of the kidnapped boy was delivered by mail. 

The teenager was released in Dec 1973. He was permanently affected by his kidnapping and suffered from drug and alcohol addiction during the years that followed. 

In 1981, he drank a Valium, methadone, and alcohol cocktail which caused liver failure and a stroke. This left him, quadriplegic, partially blind, unable to speak, and severely disabled for the rest of his life. He died in 2011 at 54years after a long illness. 

8. He Was Knighted By The Queen Then Later Became a British Citizen

In 1986, he was awarded an honorary knighthood for services to cricket, art, and the Conservative Party. The award was knighthood in the Order of the British Empire (KBE), but as a foreign national he could not use the title “Sir”.  

In December 1997, he was granted British citizenship and he denounced his American nationality. He was a known long-time Anglophile and always wanted to be British. In 1998, he changed his name by deed poll to Sir Paul Getty, KBE, and his wife Victoria was styled, Lady Getty.  

9. Getty Images Is His Son鈥檚 Company 

Getty Images, the Visual Media Company is owned by his son with Abigail, Mark Getty. Mark co-founded the photographic agency with Jonathan Klein. Getty Images is the world’s leading supplier of imagery for the media, corporate, and advertising sectors.  

His other son with Talitha, Tara Gabriel Gramophone Galaxy Getty, is an ecological conservationist in Africa.    

Sir Paul has a grandson, Paul Balthazar Getty, who is an American actor and musician. He was born in 1975 two years after his father鈥檚 kidnapping. 

10. He Is A Generous Philanthropic 

Sir Paul donated millions to various artistic and cultural causes. The National Gallery is a beneficiary and his love for cricket and books has him building a replica of The Oval cricket ground and an extraordinary library at Wormsley Park on his Buckinghamshire estate.  

He donated significant support for the National Gallery, the British Museum, the British Film Institute, Hereford Cathedral, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Imperial War Museum, St. James Catholic Church, and the Conservative Party. He endowed a charitable trust which supports the arts, conservation, and social welfare. 

Read about the 10 richest people here.

Sir Paul Getty. Photo by Bill Nicholls –

Sir Paul Getty died on 17th April 2003 at the age of 70years. He had been admitted for treatment of a chest infection at a hospital in Westminster, London. He was buried at the Getty Family Estate in Stokenchurch, Wycombe District, Buckinghamshire, England. After his death, Lady Victoria Getty took over as a trustee of the J. Paul Getty Trust.