John Paul Getty III

John Paul Getty III (; born Eugene Paul Getty II; November 4, 1956 – February 5, 2011) was a grandson of the American oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, who was once the richest man in the world. While living in Rome in 1973, he was kidnapped by the 'Ndrangheta, an Italian criminal organization based in Calabria, and held for a $17 million ransom. His grandfather initially refused to pay, but, after John Paul Getty III's severed ear was received by a newspaper, his grandfather relented to a new, lower demand, and Getty was released five months after being kidnapped. Getty subsequently developed an addiction to alcohol and other drugs, leading to an overdose and stroke in 1981 at the age of 25, which left him severely disabled for the rest of his life.

Early life Getty was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota as eldest of four children of John Paul Getty Jr. and Abigail "Gail" Harris. He spent most of his childhood in Rome while his father headed the Italian division of the Getty family oil business. His parents divorced in 1964 when he was eight years old, and his father married Dutch model and actress Talitha Pol in 1966. The couple adopted a hippie lifestyle, spending much time in Britain and Morocco during the 1960s. Getty remained in Italy with his mother Gail and attended St. George's British International School in Rome.

In July 1971, his stepmother died of an alleged heroin overdose in Rome The Italian adult magazine Playmen paid him $1,000 to appear naked in a spread and on the cover of its August 1973 issue, released a month after he was kidnapped.

Kidnapping Getty was kidnapped in the Piazza Farnese in Rome at 3 a.m. on July 10, 1973, when he was 16. He was blindfolded, transported, and imprisoned in a cave in Calabria. The kidnappers issued a ransom note demanding $17 million (equivalent to $ in ) for his safe return; however, the family suspected a plot by the rebellious teenager to extract money from his grandfather. As time wore on, Paul's treatment by his captors grew worse; they took away his radio, killed a bird he had taken as a pet, and began playing Russian roulette against his head.

In November 1973, a daily newspaper received an envelope containing a lock of hair, a human ear, and a threat from the kidnappers to mutilate Paul further unless they were paid $3.2 million (equivalent to $ in ). The letter read, "This is Paul's first ear. If within ten days the family still believes that this is a joke mounted by him, then the other ear will arrive. In other words, he will arrive in little bits." Paul's health declined rapidly as his ear wound became infected, combined with pneumonia. His captors were alarmed at this sudden decline and gave him large doses of penicillin to treat the infection, which caused him to develop an allergy to the antibiotic and further affected his health. Getty's biographer John Pearson attributed his later alcoholism to the large amounts of brandy that he was plied with in the last few months of his captivity to keep him warm and numb his pain. At his mother's suggestion, he called his grandfather to thank him for paying the ransom, but J. Paul Getty refused to come to the phone. In 1977, Getty had plastic surgery to rebuild the ear that his kidnappers had severed. He and his wife lived for a time in New York City where they consorted with Andy Warhol's art crowd. Afterwards, his mother cared for him, and she sued his father for $28,000 a month to cover his medical needs.

Getty died at his father's estate at Wormsley Park, Buckinghamshire, on February 5, 2011, aged 54, following a long illness. He had been in poor health since his 1981 drug overdose.

The 1995 book Painfully Rich: the Outrageous Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Heirs of J. Paul Getty by John Pearson includes significant content on Getty's kidnapping ordeal.

The story of Getty's kidnapping was adapted to the 2017 film All the Money in the World, directed by Ridley Scott. The film used the book by Pearson as its source. In the film, J. Paul Getty is played by Christopher Plummer and John Paul Getty III is played by Charlie Plummer (no relation) as a teenager and Charlie Shotwell at age 7.

The story of the kidnapping was also adapted into the 2018 television series Trust, produced by Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle, with Harris Dickinson as John Paul Getty III and Donald Sutherland as J. Paul Getty.

Shriekback's song, "Over the Wire", includes lyrics related to Getty III's kidnapping; “Then John Paul Getty in the form of a dove / Says you only ever answer to the Butcher of Love.”