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Lovebirds Rent Westside Nest

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

MELANIE GRIFFITH and ANTONIO BANDERAS, who co-star in the upcoming romantic comedy “Two Much,” have rented a Westside house owned by MICHELE PFEIFFER, sources say.

Griffith, recently divorced from actor Don Johnson, and Banderas, married to Spanish actress Ana Leza, became romantically involved this past spring while filming “Two Much.”

Banderas stars as a revenge-seeking troubadour in the Western parody “Desperado,” released in August. He played Armand in “Interview With the Vampire” (1994) and Tom Hanks’ lover, Miguel, in “Philadelphia” (1993).

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Griffith, who most recently appeared in the CBS miniseries “Buffalo Girls,” which aired in April, played Billie Dawn in “Born Yesterday” (1993) and Tess in “Working Girl” (1988), a role that earned her a nomination for a best actress Academy Award.

The Spanish actor, 35, has been reported as saying that Griffith, 38, would live “in Spain or anywhere” with him, but they are busy now decorating the home in Los Angeles.

Pfeiffer owned the home before she was married in 1993 to David Kelley, creator and writer of the popular TV series “Picket Fences,” and the couple lived there for a number of months before moving into a new home.

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The four-bedroom, 4,000-square-foot house, which rents in the $15,000-a-month range, was on the market for about $3 million before Griffith and Banderas leased it.

Described as “a romantic, walled and gated hacienda,” the Spanish-style house was built in the 1920s but was refurbished recently. It has three fireplaces, a courtyard with a fountain, a library, pool and spa.

Comic and businessman MARTY INGELS, husband of TV, film and stage star SHIRLEY JONES, has purchased another home to add to the couple’s Westside collection.

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Now they not only own their longtime residence in Beverly Hills and singer Janet Jackson’s former townhome at MountainGate, they have just acquired a six-bedroom duplex in Beverly Hills, which Ingels says he will use for guests, “but mostly people who come to see me on business.”

The purchase price: “Not too far from the seven-figure mark,” he said. Jones, 62, and Ingels, 59, also have a home at Big Bear.

Veteran TV producer DOUGLAS CRAMER, who is moving into theatrical features with the romantic comedy “Sleeping Together,” which may be released this fall, has put one of his two Bel-Air houses on the market at $4.95 million.

“He’s moved into his other house, which he bought some time ago and rebuilt,” a source said.

Built in 1937, the 10,000-square-foot home that Cramer listed has six bedrooms, nine baths, a greenhouse, dual sitting rooms, a pool and city-to-ocean views. He has owned it for several years.

Cramer, 64, was Aaron Spelling’s partner in producing “Dynasty,” “The Love Boat” and about 40 telefilms. During the past five years, Cramer has been executive producer of 16 Danielle Steel miniseries and telefilms, including “Zoya,” which aired last Sunday and Monday.

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Joe Babajian, Linda May and Edith Winston share the listing at Fred Sands Estates, Beverly Hills.

Comic actor TIM MATHESON, who will co-star with Gary Busey and Christine Ebersol in the upcoming Penelope Spheeris-directed comedy “Black Sheep,” has sold his Beverly Hills-area home for about $2 million, sources say.

Matheson, 47, most recently appeared in the TV movie “Fast Company,” which aired in August.

A director and producer as well as an actor with many TV movie and series credits, Matheson gained fame in “National Lampoon’s Animal House” (1978), and he was a co-owner of National Lampoon magazine from 1989 to 1991.

He moved to Montecito about a year ago and leased the Beverly Hills-area home of eight years to actor Sidney Poitier, who had sold his longtime Beverly Hills house and bought a co-op in New York.

The Matheson house proved to be larger than Poitier needed in the L.A. area, a source said. Matheson sold the six-bedroom, 4,800-square-foot home to a young couple.

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Stephen Shapiro of Stan Herman/Stephen Shapiro & Associates, Beverly Hills, represented Matheson in the sale, and Don Robinson of Sotheby’s International Real Estate, Beverly Hills, represented the buyers.

DAVID SHAW, co-executive producer with his mother, Angela Lansbury, of the TV series “Murder, She Wrote,” has purchased actor Don Murray’s Montecito home for $1.3 million, sources say. Murray moved to a Santa Barbara horse ranch that he bought.

Shaw plans to divide his time between Montecito and a home he owns in Brentwood. He has leased the Brentwood home for next summer, however, at $5,000 a month to Boston Bruins star Adam Oates, 33, who will be in town to co-star with Martin Sheen in the thriller “Cass,” a source said.

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