There’s Something About Moving
Ben Stiller, who co-stars with Edward Norton in the upcoming movie “Keeping the Faith,” has purchased a home in the Hollywood Hills for $1.8 million.
Stiller, 34, starred opposite Cameron Diaz in the ’98 blockbuster “There’s Something About Mary.” He also starred in the ’98 movies “Zero Effect” and “Your Friends and Neighbors.”
Before that, he directed “The Cable Guy” (1996), starring Jim Carrey, and he directed and appeared in “Reality Bites” (1994).
The Emmy-winning Stiller (for best writing on Fox-TV’s “The Ben Stiller Show,” 1992-93) is also the son of the comedians Jerry Stiller, who played Frank Costanza on “Seinfeld,” and Anne Meara.
Ben Stiller bought a Spanish-style home that was built in 1929 and is just under 5,000 square feet in size. The property, which closed escrow in December, was not officially listed.
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Gabe Sachs, a writer and supervising producer of the TV series “Freaks and Geeks,” has purchased a Sherman Oaks home for $519,000.
The critically praised production, about high school misfits, was replaced this week by a new edition of “Dateline.” In the meantime, NBC has given DreamWorks permission to pitch the series to another network.
Sachs, who was a writer and producer of the TV series “Costello” (1998-99), bought a three-bedroom, 1,860-square-foot home built in the ‘40s. The refurbished, Cape Cod-style house has cathedral ceilings and three fireplaces.
The seller was an investor who owned the home for three months. He bought the house from actor Brian Benben and his wife, actress Madeline Stowe.
Lou Woolf of Coldwell Banker, Sherman Oaks, had the listing.
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Verna Harrah, widow of casino magnate William F. Harrah and head of Middle Fork Productions, has agreed to sell her Beverly Hills home for just under $6 million, Westside Realtors say.
The home, which Harrah bought in 1996 from the estate of jazz great Ella Fitzgerald, is due to close escrow in August. Harrah wanted a long escrow so she could complete remodeling of the Bel-Air house she bought in March in the $8-million range. Harrah sold her Malibu home in December for about $25 million.
Her Beverly Hills home, where Fitzgerald lived for 20 years before she died in 1996 at 78, has a room known as “Ella’s pub,” where Fitzgerald held jam sessions with jazz legends. The 6,500-square-foot home was built in 1930.
The house that Harrah is refurbishing was owned in the ‘30s by Herbert T. Kalmus, the developer of Technicolor. Built in 1926, the 14,000-square-foot house, on 1.5 acres, has a ballroom-theater, where Kalmus entertained.
Hot Property runs Thursdays in SoCal Living and Sundays in Real Estate. Ryon may be reached at ruth.ryon@latimes.com.
