Yes, He Showed Them the Money

Oscar-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr. and his wife, Sara, have purchased a Pacific Palisades home for close to its $3.5-million asking price.

Gooding, who won a best supporting actor Oscar for his role as pro-football star Rod Tidwell in the movie “Jerry Maguire” (1996), co-stars with Ben Affleck in the movie “Pearl Harbor,” expected to be released next May.

Gooding also stars in the upcoming movie “Navy Diver,” based on a true story about Carl Brashear, the U.S. Navy’s first African American deep-sea diver. The film is due out in September.

Last year, Gooding, 32, co-starred with Anthony Hopkins in “Instinct.” Gooding made his film debut as the lead in the 1991 movie “Boyz N the Hood.”

The 3,500-square-foot house, which the Goodings plan to remodel and expand, was built in the early ‘40s and is on nearly an acre with canyon views, a pool, spa and guest house.

The actor was a first-time home buyer in 1994, when he bought a Studio City home for $610,000. He was a bachelor at the time but married shortly afterward.

Jason Froehlich of Coldwell Banker-Jon Douglas, Santa Monica, represented the Goodings in their purchase, and Joan McGoohan of Prudential-John Aaroe, Pacific Palisades, had the listing, sources said.

Herbalife founder Mark Hughes, who died in May at 44, has left an estate with nearly $100 million in residential real estate. Shortly before he died, Hughes bought nearly 2.5 acres adjacent to the former Malibu beachfront home of Verna Harrah, which he had purchased in December for about $25 million, the costliest private home sale ever in Malibu. Hughes paid about $4.5 million for the adjacent land.

Hughes had planned to build a guest house with a gym and a music and drum room on the land. “He was a great drummer,” said Conrad Klein, managing trustee for Hughes’ estate.

After buying the 7.5-acre oceanfront Harrah property, Hughes sold beachfront homes in Maui and Malibu Colony but kept some land in Cabo San Lucas.

Hughes and his wife, Darcy, lived mainly at Grayhall, a Beverly Hills mansion built in 1909 and leased by actor Douglas Fairbanks Sr. while he was refurbishing Pickfair, his home with actress Mary Pickford. Hughes had refurbished Grayhall and purchased neighboring properties to add to the grounds.

He also owned a Benedict Canyon knoll he purchased in 1997 from entertainer Merv Griffin. At the time of his death, Hughes was still trying to get final approval on plans to build a 45,000-square-foot home there.

Klein said he is developing a plan regarding which properties may be sold.

“I used to implement Mark’s wishes. Now I must decide for the beneficiaries,” Klein said.

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Edgar Bronfman Jr., head of Seagram Co. and Universal, has sold a Malibu house for more than $10 million, according to real estate sources not involved in the deal.

The entertainment mogul, 45, bought the Malibu house in 1997 for $6.5 million. He purchased it from comedian Bob Newhart, who bought it in 1985 from actor-director Robert Redford.

The three-bedroom 3,500-square-foot house was built in the 1920s. The property has a pool and about 80 feet of beach frontage.

When he purchased the home, Bronfman had plans to raze the house and build, sources said at the time. He never moved into the house but continued to lease nearby. Bronfman’s tenant was the buyer.

An Andalusian-style home designed by architect Wallace Neff and built in 1927 for Norman Chandler before he became publisher of The Times has come on the market at slightly more than $1.3 million.

By the time Chandler became publisher in 1944, his family had outgrown the house, which is in Los Feliz. Chandler was succeeded as publisher by his son, Otis, in 1960. The elder Chandler died at 74 in 1973.

The house has been owned since 1966 by former Broadway actress Beth Park-Field, who plans to move back to New York and buy a loft in Manhattan.

Among features considered typical of Neff houses of the period are a low-pitched roof over an upstairs porch, a wrought-iron balcony over the front entrance, an interior spiral staircase and a beamed living room ceiling.

The four-bedroom 4,100-square-foot house also has a conservatory, family room-artist’s studio, gardens and a pool.

Barry Sloane of Sotheby’s International Realty, Beverly Hills, has the listing.

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Richard King, a major shareholder in the King World family, and his wife, Lauren, have purchased a condo on Wilshire Boulevard for a family member. They paid just less than $800,000 for the two-bedroom 2,800-square-foot unit.

The Kings have a home in South Florida.

Jane Siegal of Coldwell Banker Previews, Beverly Hills, represented the Kings in their purchase; John Woodward of the same office had the listing.

A Hollywood Hills home designed and built in 1964 for former basketball star Elgin Baylor, now vice president of basketball operations for the Clippers, has been listed at just under $1.5 million.

The four-bedroom 2,700-square-foot house, in the Doheny Estates area, has a half-court for basketball and a 65-foot-long pool. The home also has a large, grassy yard.

Baylor’s ex-wife, Ruby, sold the house in 1987. Baylor has been with the Clippers since 1986. As a player, his greatest moments came in the early ‘60s, when he played for the Lakers. The 6-foot, 5-inch Baylor was a power forward.

Richard Klug of Sotheby’s International Realty, Beverly Hills, has the listing.

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