CYNTHIA BECK : MISTRESS OF GORDON GETTY, MOTHER OF THREE DAUGHTERS WHO CHANGED THEIR NAME TO GETTY

CYNTHIA BECK

 

It was 1999 when the three daughters of Cynthia Beck, who'd been fathered by billionaire, composer, and Getty heir, Gordon Getty, decided they wanted the Getty surname and went to court in Los Angeles to do so.  Then the "secret" was published in papers around the world.  It was official.  Gordon Getty had two families.  One in San Francisco with his wife, another in Los Angeles with his Mistress.  Very little has been published about them since. As I expected. Other than that Ms. Beck had been at one point concerned with her privacy being invaded at her house in a wonderful community in Los Angeles County.

Among the American Aristocracy it was said, Gordon Getty's second family was considered to be an "open secret," but who knew really how much his wife and children based in San Francisco knew or when.  If they did they weren't talking to the press. 
And so we know only a little more about Cynthia Beck than we do Bob Dylan's mistress, Ruth Triangiel, who said in her bid for money from Bob that the only thing Bob ever gave her as a present in the years they were in a relationship was an orange.

Blamed on a midlife crisis by some, or his wife's traveling that gave Gordon Getty a lot of time to be with another woman by others, Ann Getty, his wife of 30 years at that point, acted with dignity, preserved her marriage, and Gordon wasn't seeking a divorce.  And that is the way it is most often played out in the highest of society.

The father of four sons by Ann and three daughters by Cynthia, Gordon Getty has never been accused of having his father's cheap gene  Gordon Getty's personal fortune was estimated to be about $2 billion at that point, making him in the top 50 of wealthiest people in the United States. The "cheap skate" gene attributed to his father, J. Paul Getty, whose personal art collections founded the Getty Museums in Malibu and on the mountain just up from the Sepulveda Pass on the West Side of Los Angeles, and who once refused to pay ransom for a kidnapped grandson, hadn't trickled down to Gordon.

In multiple repetitive news articles circa 1999,  Gordon Getty was quoted from released a statement saying, “Nicolette, Kendalle and Alexandra are my children. Their mother is Cynthia Beck, and I love them very much.” 
The three daughters were granted the surname change they wanted.  He and Cynthia had been together fourteen years.   He visited the children frequently.  Basically, it was as if he simply could not take a second wife and keep them both at the same time because that's illegal.

While some media reported high society was "shocked," some of high society reported that Cynthia was a lovely woman.  Others in high society scoffed at the idea of being shocked by an open secret.  Shock was for the middle class.

Gordon Getty is at heart a musician and artist, said to be more inclined to hear music in his head than to pay attention to business.  Legal wranglings are an important part of the book I based much of my information on last month, "The House of Getty," and in it one important point was that Gordon was seemingly oblivious that board members were out to dismiss him since his business resume isn't impressive.  It didn't help him personally when he was outed in 1981 by Forbes Magazine at the top of the World's Richest list.

Last month in covering the Mistresses (some who became wives) of J. Paul Getty, I covered Ann Rork, Gordon's mom.  She had two sons by Paul, and Gordon and his brother saw more of their dad than the others.  In 1964 Gordon married Ann Gilbert when he was 31 and she was 23.  They had four sons and as a family went to Sutton Place in England to visit with Paul.  When his father died in 1976 Gordon became a millionaire over night, but only because he got a third of the Sarah C. Getty Trust, providing about 11 million a year.  Ann, a Republican, while Gordon is a Democrat, rose to become a society hostess in San Francisco, on best dressed lists and the cover of Town and Country Magazine, driving a Porsche, while Gordon seemed to avoid the events she loved.  Ann played hostess to celebrities and royals.  In 1982 Gordon became solely in charge of one of the most immense family fortune's due to the Sarah C. Getty Trust.  While his father J. Paul had many Mistresses, Gordon seems to have allowed himself just one, perhaps a woman less interested in being in society than his wife Ann.

I'm not the first to say it: the Rich are Different.
And I'm not the first to ask this: Are Cynthia and Gordon still together as a couple?

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