J. Paul Getty Trivia Questions

The museum began in his Pacific Palisades ranch house in 1954, then expanded to the Getty Villa in Malibu, modeled after a Roman villa.

His father, George Getty, was a successful oilman and lawyer who left J. Paul a substantial inheritance and an oil business to manage.

Fortune's 1957 list named Getty the wealthiest American, though he famously kept a pay phone in his mansion to save money.

Getty famously refused to pay the ransom, later negotiated a lower amount, and the ransom was paid by his son—after the grandson's ear was mailed.

To cut costs, he locked the phone and required coins, a famous anecdote that epitomizes his legendary frugality.

Despite his museum legacy, Getty was notoriously tight-fisted with charity; his will left most of his fortune to the museum, not broad philanthropy.

Published in 1965, the book offered blunt advice on wealth accumulation and became a surprise bestseller due to his notorious penny-pinching.

'Irises' was bought by the Getty Museum in 1990, long after J. Paul Getty's death in 1976, as part of later acquisitions.