Andrew Getty, the 47-year-old grandson of the late oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, was found dead Tuesday in his Los Angeles home.
While speculation about the billion-dollar heir’s possible health problems continues to swirl, an anonymous friend is now offering an account of Getty as a hard-partying playboy with no financial limits and no self-control.
Getty was found unconscious and naked from the waist down on the floor near the bathroom of his 5,000 sq ft Hollywood Hills mansion by his on again, off again girlfriend, a 32-year-old woman named Lanessa De Jonge. The woman placed a 911 call at around 2 p.m. local time Tuesday, after finding him with significant bleeding from his rectal area,” an LAPD source told the Los Angeles Times.
The 47-year-old had recently filed a protective order against the woman and said in recent court documents his doctors had advised him that heated arguments could cause his blood pressure to rise “dangerously,” and put him at a “serious” health risk. The documents also stated that De Jonge was aware of the health problems and had been extorting Getty for money.
According to TMZ, the heir had been taking medication for stomach issues, which De Jonge was aware of, and was scheduled to see a doctor Wednesday. However, an anonymous lifelong friend now alleges Andrew Getty’s stomach problems, and overall poor health, were a direct result of his heavy drug and alcohol use.
“I’ve seen him twice in the last three months. Last month, we were all out on a boys night and ended up late at Andrew’s house, the one on the hill,” the friend told the Daily Mail Wednesday. “It was a hard party, I’m not going to lie to you. Rails and rails of coke and drinking to excess. [Other friends] were with me. It was a do-it-till-dawn kind of night.”
The anonymous man, who is only reported to be the son of a “Hollywood bigwig,” continued:
We went to school together and sometimes get together to go excessive… Then about three months ago we went to Vegas to play Sports Book. He’s friends with [Steve] Wynn who gave him a suite that took up half a floor at Encore. We never left it, except to gamble our winnings.
Andrew was a great guy but massive partier and that’s well known. He took drugs to such an excess that I wouldn’t be surprised if his heart just gave out. He was having stomach problems, but it was bowel problems. The blow was giving him irritable bowls so he’d go from painful constipation to bloody diarrhea. He was complaining about blood in his stool, so he’d had that for a while.
He blamed it on the coke use, actually. But Andrew mixed drugs so often and so much that I’m not sure how he can sort out which drug was doing which bit of damage to his body.
The friend also told the site Andrew had never held a steady job, and he spoke of the Getty family as a whole as a group of excessive partiers: “He did whatever he liked. His whole, all the kids, partied their lives away. All of them. Just too much money and too much time and no real focus or desire or ambition like their fathers and grandfather.”
The Mail reports Getty is listed as the president of A. Rork Investment Inc., as well as manager of Rork Productions. Public records reveal he has been hit with 12 separate court filings over unpaid taxes, while the Getty family is estimated to be the 54th wealthiest family in the United States, with an estimated $5 billion in assets.
The LAPD had reportedly visited Getty’s home more than 30 times prior to Tuesday, mostly for domestic disturbances between Getty and De Jonge. Both parties were sometimes “high” during the police visits calls, according to TMZ.
De Jonge, who also goes by the name Lanessa Grace, is an actress who has held small TV and film roles, including a small bit in the 2011 movie Warrior, alongside Nick Nolte and Tom Hardy.
The LAPD has not disclosed Andrew’s identity, or the exact cause of death, but did say it appeared to be either accidental or of natural causes, according to preliminary reports from the LA Coroner’s Office. Prescription drugs were also found in close proximity to the body, and results from a toxicology report are expected to take several weeks.
Andrew’s parents, Ann and Gordon Getty, confirmed his death through in a statement released by family spokesman Larry Kamer:
“Andrew Getty, 47, died this afternoon at his home in Los Angeles. The family has requested that members of the media and the public respect its privacy during this extremely difficult time. Further statements will be issued as information becomes available.”
Andrew’s father, Gordon Getty, is the billionaire son of the late J. Paul Getty, whose oil fortune made the family billions.
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