Sir John Paul Getty Jr. and Abigail Harris gave birth to John Paul Getty III on November 4, 1956, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was the grandson of Getty Oil Company founder Jean Paul Getty, who was ranked the world’s wealthiest person in 1957 by ‘Fortune’ magazine.
He was the first of his parents’ four sons to move to Rome after his father was appointed head of Getty Oil’s Italian affiliate, Getty Oil Italiana. After his parents split in 1964, his father married model and actress Talitha Pol in 1966.
Getty III stayed with his mother and went to St. George’s British International School in Rome until he was dismissed in early 1972 after writing derogatory remarks about the headmaster on the school’s walls. Later that year, his drug-addicted father went to England when his wife Talitha died of a heroin overdose. In the years that followed, he lived in a squat and enjoyed a bohemian lifestyle, frequenting nightclubs and participating in left-wing demonstrations. He had artistic talent and was able to make money by selling paintings, cartoons, jewelry, and acting as an extra in movies.
