Phantom Finds a New Haunt

Actor ROBERT GUILLAUME, who won two Emmy Awards playing the sitcom butler-turned-bureaucrat “Benson” and replaced Michael Crawford as star of the Los Angeles production of “Phantom of the Opera,” and his wife, Donna, have leased a home off of Mulholland Drive for a year.

The couple rented the home, at $7,000 a month, while their Sherman Oaks residence is being repaired for earthquake damage.

Guillaume, who turned 67 last Wednesday, appeared in early November on the HBO fantasy anthology “Cosmic Slop,” and he co-starred with Dennis Weaver and Pat Morita in the CBS pilot “Greyhounds,” which aired in June. He is the voice of Rafiki, the shaman-like baboon in Disney’s “The Lion King.”

Guillaume also narrates an animation series for HBO, to premiere in early 1995, based on classic fairy tales with an ethnically diverse cast. Guillaume started a publishing venture in 1992 called the Confetti Kids, which publishes fairy tales with a multicultural approach.

The venture, which has released six learn-to-read books with Guillaume providing narration on audiocassettes, was prompted by the actor’s search for reading material for his own small daughter, Rachel Jeanette.

The house he leased has five bedrooms in slightly more than 6,700 square feet. Built in 1988, it has city and canyon views. It also has a sauna, pool and spa.

Michael Barton of Nourmand & Associates, Beverly Hills, had the listing, and Michael Glanfield of Jon Douglas Co., Sherman Oaks, represented the Guillaumes.

CHEVY CHASE has put a five-acre-plus site in Pacific Palisades on the market at $3 million.

The Emmy-winning actor/writer and his wife, Jayni, had planned to build a residence there. “But now they’re getting ready to relocate to New York,” a source said.

Chase, who gained fame on TV’s “Saturday Night Live” before starring in such films as “Foul Play” (1978) and “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” (1989), played Norman Robberson in the comedy film “Cops and Robbersons,” released earlier this year. He produced, wrote and hosted his own talk show on TV last year.

The Palisades parcel, which comes with plans for a 17,000-square-foot house on the 75,000-square-foot buildable pad, has a tennis court, fencing, 200-foot-long driveway, and mountain and canyon views. “He spent $1.2 million on site improvements,” a source said.

The property, which is in the guard-gated Pacific Palisades Highlands, was bought by the actor in 1990. It is listed with Joyce Spector of Douglas Properties, Pacific Palisades.

BRUCE OPPENHEIM, dubbed a “chiropractor to the stars” by People magazine, and his wife, actress JENILEE HARRISON, have put their Encino home on the market at $795,000.

“They want a larger house and are looking in the Beverly Hills Post Office area or vicinity to accommodate their plans for a growing family,” said Nevin Harrison, who co-listed the home with Mark Odell, both of Geary Family Real Estate in Sherman Oaks.

Oppenheim, who has a practice in Toluca Lake, was married to actress Cybill Shepherd, and they have 7-year-old twins. Harrison, who appeared as Jamie in “Dallas” and Cindy in “Three’s Company,” was in the 1991 film “Prime Target,” with Tony Curtis.

Their Encino home has four bedrooms with a maid’s quarters in about 3,200 square feet, behind gates. It also has a waterfall.

The Beverly Hills house owned by a young Russian banker with a Rolls-Royce dealership in Moscow has come on the market at $17.5 million, with Raymond Bekeris of John Bruce Nelson & Associates.

The 12-bedroom, 37,000-square-foot house was off of the market for six months, after being listed last January at $30 million. The banker bought the home in a court-ordered sale last fall for $11.5 million. Built in 1988, the house was originally priced at $32.5 million.

An afternoon party celebrating the new listing drew a surprisingly large crowd of more than 1,000 realtors, many of whom got something other than the champagne and canapes. Realtors who left their cars just outside of the estate were presented with parking tickets, from the Beverly Hills police.

A Glendale home owned during the 1940s by actress BETTE DAVIS has been sold to singer/songwriter Liana Reid Coulter, co-owner of the new Hollywood restaurant Modada, and her husband, Benedict Coulter, a motion picture ad executive.

The Coulters bought the walled, brick Tudor-style home from the estate of Dr. Alden Miller, a prominent local doctor. Davis owned the home for six years before selling it to Miller.

Built in 1934, the four-bedroom, 5,000-square-foot residence, with gardener’s and chauffeur’s quarters, had been listed at $1.2 million two years ago. It sold for about $712,000, sources say.

Rita Johnson represented the buyers; Sandy Zillarreal and Beverly Fortner represented the sellers. All of the realtors are with MacGregor Realty in Glendale.