J. Paul Getty III, a scion of the Getty oil dynasty whose tragedies — mutilation by kidnappers in the early 1970s and an incapacitating, drug-induced stroke in the 1980s — brought into high relief the dysfunctional relations that beset his famously wealthy family, has died in Buckinghamshire, England. He was 54.
Getty, who had homes in the Los Angeles area for some years after his ordeals, died Saturday after a long illness, according to a statement from his actor-son, Balthazar.
Left nearly blind and a quadriplegic after the stroke, Getty was known to the public largely for his misfortunes. A father of two and grandfather of six, he "taught us how to live our lives and overcome obstacles and extreme adversity and we shall miss him dearly," his son said.
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