Balthazar is the son of J. Paul Getty III and Gisela Zacher. His parents met in Europe, but decided to raise their family in the US. Gisela, who is from Germany, has a daughter, Anna, from a previous marriage. Anna is two years older than Balthazar and her father is Rolf Zacher, a German actor.

Balthazar's parents split up when he was little and he moved to San Francisco with his mom and sister.

In 1987, he was spotted in his school art class by a talent scout and given an audition for the movie Lord of the Flies. Although he had no ambitions to be an actor, he auditioned for the lead role of Ralph and got the part. However, right before filming was to begin in the summer of 1988, he fell while testing a (rock)climbing rope and broke both arms. (that's why he has the sling on his arm in the beginning of the movie).

Balthazar was then immediately cast in the Showtime movie Turn or the Screw. Shortly afterward he went on to co-star in two other movies, Young Guns II and My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys.

Balthazar's acting career was in full swing by the time Lord of the Flies was finally released in Feb. 1990. He moved out of his mom's house (in the Hollywood area of So. California close to the famous sign) and in with his girlfriend, Lala (Zappa) Sloatman. Balthazar's mom moved back to Germany.

Balt is also interested in music. He had band with David Arquette called Thirteen Floor. He wrote the songs and rapped. And in 1996 he produced nine songs on the LP Audio Sedative for the band Mannish. He was a founding member of the band, Tape, but is no longer in the group due his schedule.

During the mid to late 90's, Balty battled a sever drug addiction. He hung around with a posse nicknamed the Westies, and was livin' large in Hollywood. He even lost his close friend, actor Rodney Harvey, to an overdose.

Finally, Balty has managed to over come the addiction and get his life in order. Balthazar and his pal, Shon Greenblatt, have founded a production company and have produced the film Shadow Hours (also starring Balt) and also produce numerous music videos. Balthazar married Rosetta Millington, a 30 year old children's fashion designer, in May 2000. Rosetta is a childhood friend of Patricia Arquette, who introduced the two. The couple's first child, Cassius Paul Getty, was born on July 17, 2000. 

Credit: geocities.com