“At heart, JP Getty II was a scholar manque. His greatest passion was his collection of rare books, which included a number of priceless medieval manuscripts; and only recently he paid Oriel College, Oxford, £3.5 million for a First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays. He absorbed himself not only in the texts and their provenance, but also in the practical art of fine book-binding. He was a cinema buff and an authority on the work of Howard Hawks and Charlie Chaplin; his video library was vast. He also had a wide knowledge of music. At the other end of the scale, Getty was an inveterate watcher of television soap operas, with a particular affection for the Australian series Neighbours.”