John Paul Getty III (November 4, 1956 – February, 5 2011) was the eldest of four children of Paul Getty and Gail Harris, the grandson of oil tycoon Jean Paul Getty, and the father of actor Balthazar Getty.
On July 10 1973, John Getty III was kidnapped in the Piazza Farnese in Rome. The kidnappers cut off his ear and send it to a newspaper. Getty III was found alive in southern Italy on December 15, 1973, shortly after the ransom ($2.9 million) was paid. Several of the kidnappers were apprehended. Most of the ransom money was never recovered
Getty was an alcoholic and drug addict. In 1981, taking a cocktail of valium, methadone and alcohol resulted in liver failure and a stroke which left Getty quadriplegic and nearly blind
Death of John Paul Getty III
On February 5, 2011, Getty died at Wormsley, his home in Buckinghamshire, England after a long illness. He had been in poor health since his 1981 drug overdose. He is survived by his son.