BILLIONAIRE GETTY'S DOUBLE LIFE.

Byline: Douglas Haberman and Beth Barrett Staff Writers

Gordon P. Getty - a billionaire socialite, philanthropist and Getty Center board member - has kept a secret from his wife and the world for more than a decade - a second life in Los Angeles with a mistress and three children.

Now the secret is out because the children Getty fathered with Cynthia Beck have filed a petition in Los Angeles Superior Court to change their surname to Getty, their attorney said Friday.

News of Getty's affair has sent the high-society circuit into a tizzy, as Getty is viewed by his peers as a sober family man whose passion is opera, not scandal.

According to a Los Angeles socialite who frequents the same New York galas and charity benefits with Getty's wife, Ann, the 64-year-old Getty is the ``last person in the world'' one would expect to have a second family.

``Gordon's a funny-looking creature, who's not as attractive as Donald Trump. In fact, he's dorky-looking like Bill Gates, only taller,'' she said.

Getty said in a statement he intends to support his second family. He and his wife of 30 years, Ann, have four adult sons - Peter, John, Andrew and William.

``Nicolette, Kendalle and Alexandra are my children,'' Getty said. ``Their mother, Cynthia Beck, and I love them very much. The most important concern is that the children's needs be addressed with a minimum of disruption, and this will be our first priority. The Getty family has been fully supportive throughout this situation, and for that I am very grateful.''

The Gettys have no intention of divorcing and are traveling in Europe, said Ann Getty's attorney, San Francisco attorney Bill Coblentz.

The girls, Coblentz said, ``have been take care of up to now and very well taken care of at that.''

Getty and Beck are now in negotiations for inheritance rights, according to attorneys.

Getty's and Beck's children are Nicolette, 14; Kendalle, 10; and Alexandra, 8. The family delayed seeking the name change until the girls were old enough for all of them to make up their minds, said Los Angeles attorney Stephen Burgin of the firm Latham & Watkins, who represents Beck on behalf of the girls.

``The kids want to change their name to their dad's,'' Burgin said. ``It's their desire to change their name.''

Getty sees his daughters regularly, Coblentz said. Neither Burgin nor Coblentz knew how Getty and Beck met.

Burgin described Beck as a ``nice lady, devoted mother.''

The Los Angeles socialite said she has watched fabulously wealthy men for years lead double lives, and said it all boils down to a ``midlife crisis.''

``They feel inadequate even with all their money,'' she said. ``Then if the wife is gone a fair amount of time, you leave the door open for a guy to play.''

She described Ann Getty as a ``pleasantly, handsome'' woman who knows how to lunch, but is not a party animal, someone who would rather attend a fashion show than a nightclub.

A woman who dresses conservatively, Ann Getty has carved out a life of her own among the Trumps, Basses and other American aristocratic families, the source said.

And if there is an interest, it's easy for a billionaire to make sure trysts are kept secret.

``All it takes is a couple of night a week, or even one night a week. With that kind of money they can just come on down. Without the money it's not so easy.''

Forbes magazine last year estimated Gordon Getty is worth $2 billion.

The restless Gordon Getty made more headlines when he wrote his first opera in two parts inspired by Shakespeare's ``Falstaff,'' called ``Plump Jack,'' that was performed by the San Francisco Symphony in 1985.

Beyond visiting his children, Gordon Getty has reason to travel to Los Angeles. He is on the board of the hilltop Getty Center in Brentwood, the $1 billion home to classical art hailed by critics and the public since its December 1997 opening.

Commissioner Murray Gross is scheduled to consider Nov. 18 whether the girls will carry the vaunted Getty name. Gordon Getty is the son of J. Paul Getty, an oil magnate and once the richest man in the world, who was as renowned for his miserliness as for his vast wealth. J. Paul Getty died in 1976.

The Gettys are fixtures in San Francisco high society, according to the San Jose Mercury News, which broke the story. They hosted television star Don Johnson's wedding at their mansion in Pacific Heights, with San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown Jr. presiding. And President Clinton attended a fund-raiser at the Getty estate that raised $1 million for Democrats.

But with the fame has come pain for the Getty family, including divorce and drug overdoses. Some have said Gordon was the most stable and sensible of Jean Paul's surviving four offspring. One brother, the youngest, died at the age of 12.

Addresses in the name-change petition, filed April 16, are under seal because of security concerns, according to court papers. ``The Getty family has a history of violence against it, as well as a violent kidnapping,'' said the motion, which Gross granted.

In 1973, Italian gangsters kidnapped J. Paul Getty's eldest grandson, Jean Paul Getty III. The mogul refused for five months to pay the $3.2 million ransom, until the kidnappers cut off the teen-ager's right ear while he was semiconscious and sent it to an Italian newspaper. Getty paid $2.8 million in ransom.

``To the extent they can stay out of the limelight,'' Burgin said of Cynthia Beck and her daughters, ``they'd like to.''

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--2) Oil heir Gordon P. Getty and his wife, Ann, are shown in 1986 file photos.

Associated Press