007 Works With a Malibu Agent

Actor Pierce Brosnan has purchased a Malibu home in the $7-million range.

Brosnan, 47, who is due to start filming his fourth James Bond film in 2003, has a couple of other movies in the works, including “Tailor of Panama,” director John Boorman’s version of John Le Carre’s thriller, and “Burnt Sienna,” based on a yet-to-be-published novel by David Morrell, creator of “First Blood,” which inspired the Rambo series.

The Imax movie “Dolphins,” narrated by Brosnan with music by Sting, was released earlier this month. Last year, Brosnan appeared as Agent 007, James Bond, in “The World Is Not Enough,” and he starred in “The Thomas Crown Affair.”

In May, Brosnan and his fiancee, former environmental journalist Keely Shaye-Smith, are expected to get married in a small ceremony in a castle in his native Ireland. Brosnan was widowed when his wife, actress Cassandra Harris, died of cancer in 1991. Shaye-Smith has never wed.

Brosnan has lived in Malibu for about 15 years. He sold some land there in the fall for $1 million.

The house he bought, built in the ‘50s, has five bedrooms and a media room in 2,700 square feet. The property, on almost an acre, also has an oceanfront deck, 120 feet of sandy beach and a pool with a cabana.

Jack Pritchett of Pritchett-Rapf, Malibu, had the $8.5-million listing, and Bob Rubenstein of Coldwell Banker’s Malibu West office represented Brosnan in the purchase, other sources said.

The late movie mogul Sam Goldwyn, whose Goldwyn Pictures became Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, once owned a 2.15-acre property next to his Beverly Hills-area home that he used for a croquet court. The site, which was on the market at $5.75 million, has been sold.

The buyer, a local businessman, is interviewing architects and contractors. He plans to build a house there but would consider selling the property as is, he says, for $6.49 million.

Raymond Bekeris of John Bruce Nelson & Associates represented both sides of the sale.

David X. Cohen, executive producer and co-developer with Matt Groening of the irreverent prime-time cartoon “Futurama,” has purchased a Sunset Strip-area home for $1.85 million.

Cohen, 32, was a writer on “The Simpsons,” which the multiple-Emmy-winning Groening, 46, created.

“Futurama,” which ranks among Fox’s highest-rated series, is a dark look at life in the year 3000. Cartoonists Groening and Cohen poke fun at today’s conventions and foibles, magnifying their future significance.

Cohen bought his house from Samuel Bayer, a TV-commercials director who most recently did some spots for the Super Bowl. Bayer, 38, also has directed many music videos.

Built in 1959, the 3,400-square-foot house, described as a modernist villa with a glass tower, was designed by architect Marvin L. Taff. The master wing includes a study that could be a third bedroom. The home also has a media-rumpus room with a fireplace; a pool and gardens.

Julie Hubert of Coldwell Banker, Studio City, represented Cohen in buying the house. Mike Deasy of Mossler, Deasy & Doe, Beverly Hills, represented Bayer.

A Beverly Hills penthouse owned by the late Abraham Polonsky, a screenwriter and director blacklisted during the anti-Communist era who continued to work without credit for 20 years, has come on the market at $750,000.

The 2,300-square-foot condo has two bedrooms plus a den. He bought it newly built in 1982.

Polonsky, who wrote and directed such movies as “Force of Evil” (1948) and “Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here” (1969), died at 88 in October.

Sally Aminoff of DBL Realtors, Beverly Hills, has the listing.

A Palm Springs home where Cary Grant honeymooned in 1942 with his second wife, Woolworth department-store heiress Barbara Hutton, has been listed at $2.5 million.

The Spanish-style house, an example of early Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, was designed by L.A. architect Ross Montgomery. It was built in 1934 for Texas oilman Harry Hanbury, who entertained such guests there as President Harry Truman, “Our Gang” child star Jackie Cooper and actress Clara Bow.

Hanbury sold the estate in 1944 to Fresno wine grower Kirkor Arakelian. Since then, the house has had several owners. It was restored in 1998.

Known as the Hanbury Estate, the 5,400-square-foot house, on two walled acres in the heart of the old Palm Springs Movie Colony, still has the letter “H” (for Hanbury) stamped on its front gates.

The home has eight bedrooms, seven baths, a morning room, Mexican cantina, wine cellar, courtyard, spa, sunken tennis court, putting green, pool and spa.

Don Keating at Tarbell Realtors, Palm Springs, has the listing.

Independent producer Sharlene Martin, who is developing the movie “Tesla’s Best Secret,” has sold her Fryman Estates home for its full asking price of about $1.6 million.

The gated property has a 5,000-square-foot ranch-style home with five bedrooms, a butler’s pantry, media room and pool. The 1997 music video “Fly” by Sugar Ray was shot in the pool. Built in 1958, the house was renovated in 1994 by architect Richard Landry.

“Tesla’s Best Secret” is a historical romance based on the life of eccentric inventor Nicola Tesla.

Karen Basin Miller of Fred Sands’ Studio City office represented the buyers; Martin represented herself.

Did you miss Thursday’s Hot Property column in Southern California Living? Visit http://161.35.110.226/hotproperty on the Internet for more Hot Properties.