Billionaire J. Paul Getty, 70, dies in London Clinic

LONDON -- Sir J. Paul Getty Jr., the reclusive third son of billionaire American oilman J. Paul Getty, died Thursday in Britain, the country he adopted as his homeland and lavished with his philanthropic gifts. He was 70.

Getty, a reformed drug addict who donated more than $200 million to a variety of causes, died in London Clinic, where he was hospitalized Monday with a recurrent chest infection, Dr. John Goldstone said.

"He may have been born in the United States, but he was truly a British citizen," said Theresa May, chairwoman of the opposition Conservative Party, which received $8 million from Getty.

Getty himself did not hesitate to praise Britain in the rare public statements he made about his life, explaining his philanthropy as his debt to his adopted country.

"I think that since I've lived here and been happy here for such a long time, I think it's my duty here," he once said. "I certainly don't intend to live in America again. I intend to be buried here."

Getty was given the honorary title of Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1986 for services to charity, but could not be called Sir Paul then because he was not a British citizen.

He was invested with the full honors in 1998, a year after changing his citizenship, and became known in Britain as Sir Paul.

"When I heard the national anthem played, I felt very proud to be British -- it's my national anthem now," Getty said after his investiture at Buckingham Palace. "I love Britain's way of life. I love its people. I love its history, and I love its future."

Getty's larger donations include $63 million to the National Gallery in London and $32 million to the British Film Institute.

"He was the most important single benefactor the BFI has had in its history," Adrian Wootton, the institute's acting director, said Thursday. "Without him, much of our work wouldn't be possible. ... He was a very passionate man about art, film and, of course, cricket, which he loved more than anything."

Ironically, Sir Paul also helped prevent precious art such as Antonio Canova's statue, "The Three Graces," from being bought by his father's pride and joy, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

Getty's passion for cricket -- the English bat and ball game -- spurred him to give thousands of dollars to cricket clubs and install a private cricket ground at his Buckinghamshire estate.

In other philanthropic deeds, he once paid to rescue a family of seals caught in a storm, bought a mansion for needy children and gave a grand piano to a concert pianist who did not own one.

After subsidizing the families of striking miners in 1985, he said he was "privileged to be the heir to huge wealth, and I regard myself as custodian of that money for the benefit of people who need it more than I do."

Born on Sept. 7, 1932, John Paul Getty Jr. was the third of five sons of J. Paul Getty, nicknamed "Oklahoma Crude," who built Getty Oil into a $6 billion fortune -- making him the world's richest man in his day.

After attending the University of San Francisco and doing a brief stint in the U.S. Army, Getty Jr. took charge of Getty Oil enterprises in Rome. But he resigned within six years, telling his father, "It doesn't take anything to be a businessman."

He then embarked on a freewheeling lifestyle of drugs and parties, letting his hair grow out and adopting colorful velvet kaftans. In 1966, he divorced his wife of 10 years, Gail, with whom he had four children.

But the hippie life ended in 1971 when Bali-born model Talitha Pol, Getty's second wife and mother of his fifth child, died of an accidental drug overdose in Rome.

He moved to Britain in 1972 and, taking solace in heroin and rum, for years lived alone in a heavily secured mansion on the River Thames in London's upscale Chelsea neighborhood. He gave no interviews, issuing only the occasional statement through his lawyers.

The bulk of Getty's fortune came from a family trust after the sale of Getty Oil to Texaco in 1984; his father, from whom he was estranged, left him only a nominal sum in his will.

The younger Getty's fortune was estimated to be as high as $2 billion, but he said much of it was in family trusts that he did not control.

In 1973, Getty's teenage son from his first marriage, John Paul III, was abducted in Italy and held for five months. It was only after the kidnappers cut off part of his ear and sent it to the family that the boy's grandfather agreed to help pay a reported ransom of $3.4 million.

In the early 1980s, the youngster had a drug-induced stroke that left him a paraplegic and practically blind.

In 1994, the staunchly Catholic Getty married Victoria Holdsworth, his longtime British girlfriend, who is credited with his rehabilitation and gradual emergence into public life.

Getty and his wife retained a London apartment, but spent most of their time at their country estate at Wormsley in Buckinghamshire, with its cricket ground and mock medieval castle housing Getty's books.

"I owe everything -- repeat everything -- to Victoria," he told an interviewer shortly after his marriage. "She has been my inspiration, you could say."

Getty is survived by Victoria and his five children -- John Paul III, Ariadne, Aileen, Tara and Mark.

No funeral plans were immediately announced.

"His family would like to extend their thanks to all those who have expressed their sympathy, which is greatly appreciated," Goldstone said in a statement.