Finally, he's out of pain: Tragic oil heir John Paul Getty III dies at 54 after being paralysed for 30 years
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John Paul Getty III died at family home after prolonged illness
Died surrounded by relatives at his bedside in mansion in Buckinghamshire
Friends say that death would have been a release for John Paul
John Paul Getty III died at the weekend after a prolonged illness, surrounded by the Getty clan at his mansion in Buckinghamshire. He was 54.
The grandson of billionaire oil tycoon J. Paul Getty – once the world’s richest man – was famous for being kidnapped in Rome in 1973, when he was just 16.
He was freed after five months when his grandfather paid £2.1million, but only after the kidnappers had severed his right ear and posted it to his family.
Grief: John Paul and his chauffeur leave the memorial mass held for his father Sir John Paul Getty in London, who died of a chest infection in April 2003 at age 70.
Ordeal: Kidnappers sent a picture to Italian newspapers of John Paul in a hole with his head heavily-bandaged and, right, the teenager emerges from a police station after the ordeal with his right ear missing
Gail Getty, the teenager's mother, meets the Italian press after announcing his kidnap
He became addicted to cocaine and heroin and in 1981 took an overdose, causing a stroke which left him paralysed and almost blind. He had to be nursed around the clock.
John Paul was born into fabulous wealth as the grandson of the notoriously tight-fisted oil tycoon John Paul Getty.
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ShareBut tragedy struck the16 year-old when he was held ransom by Italian kidnappers who sliced off his right ear when his grandfather refused to pay the £17million ransom.
John Paul was held captive by a gang, believed to be the Mafia, in Rome for five months.
It was only when the captors cut off his ear and sent it to an Italian newspaper that his grandfather agreed to pay any money.
The teenager's life spiralled out of control after the incident which eventually led to him suffering a drug-induced stroke which left him paralysed and almost blind.
John Paul, now 54, is said to be hovering close to death as family and friends prepare for the worst.
He had to be nursed round-the-clock by his mother, Gail, and a team of carers for several years.
A bewildered John Paul faces the world at an Italian police station in January 1974 shortly after being freed as a hostage
Hippy lifestyle: John Paul and his wife Martine on the beach in 1975 six years before he suffered a paralysing drug-induced stroke. His grandfather disinherited him for marrying so young
Friends say that death would have been be a release for John Paul, who has been confined to a wheelchair for years.
He had suffered scores of health scares when it was thought he wouldn’t pull through. He had to be spoon-fed, has difficulty communicating and has only peripheral vision.
John Paul achieved worldwide attention when he was kidnapped in 1973, when he was just 16.
He had previously been expelled from St George's British International School in Rome and his father moved the family to England.
After five months his notoriously tight-fisted grandfather, John Paul Getty Snr, agreed to pay the gang £2.1million which he ordered his grandson to repay with 4 per cent interest a year.
Rich: Millionaire oil tycoon John Paul Getty surrounded by female admirers. He was a workaholic who was notoriously tight with money
Scrooge: The oil tycoon John Paul Getty senior at his desk before he died in 1976. He initially refused to pay a ransom for the release of his grandson John Paul III
The trauma of his ordeal affected John Paul III so badly that he refused to talk to either his father or grandfather and turned to drugs.
Afterwards, John Paul pursued a hippie lifestyle and married Martine the year after his release. Aged 24 she was six years his senior.
His grandfather disinherited him for marrying so young and in time he became addicted to cocaine and heroin.
John Paul lived a bohemian lifestyle around New York hanging out with famous artists and musicians of the time such as Andy Warhol.
The couple had a son, Balthazar, who went on to become a Hollywood actor.
But in 1981, still only 25, John Paul took the overdose that prompted his stroke.
The cocktail of valium, methadone and alcohol left him almost blind and confined to a wheel chair.
Paul's own father, Sir John Paul II, refused to pay his huge medical bills, saying he had to live with the consequences of his own drug-induced actions.
Family: John Paul Getty II with his first wife Gail Harris and their children John Paul Getty III, Aileen Getty and Mark Getty.
Commune: After his release John Paul Getty III took on a hippy existence and is seen here at a party hosted by Andy Warhol, in June 1976
Sprawling: Wormsley Park Estate, in Watlington, Oxfordshire, where John Paul's philanthropist father Sir John Paul Getty II lived
During the Sixties and Seventies Paul Getty II himself lived the playboy lifestyle to the full, hanging out with rock stars including the Rolling Stones. At one point he was consuming a bottle of rum and a gram of high-grade heroin a day.
He inherited the massive fortune from his father who died in 1976 as the richest man in the world. His meanness was well known and at one point he installed a pay phone in his mansion that guests were required to use.
John Paul II was knighted in 1998 but for all his wealth, tragedy dogged his life. His second wife Talitha Pol died of a heroin overdose, his daughter Aileen is HIV-positive.
In 1984 Texaco bought out Getty Oil for £900million, completely freeing him from any financial worries for the rest of his life.
John Paul was one of five other children including, Aileen, 45, Mark, 42, Ariadne, 41, and Tara Gabriel Galaxy Gramophone, 34, who inherited the fortune.
The money helped to pay for round-the-clock care for John Paul as he battled ill health related to his earlier stroke.
He lived in California for a period and moved briefly to Ireland after being giving citizenship in return for investments.
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