After 20 Years, He’s Bound for the East, Where His Roots Are

Joe Pantoliano, who played the rebel Cypher in the movie “The Matrix” (1999), and his wife, model Nancy Sheppard, have listed their Santa Monica home at $998,000. They are moving to the Northeast.

Pantoliano, 48, has played such characters as Guido “The Killer Pimp” in “Risky Business” (1983) and the mob’s money launderer in “Bound” (1996).

One reason he and his family are moving is that they want schools with a small student-teacher ratio, he said. Another reason: “I’m from New Jersey. I started acting in New York. I moved to California to find a career, but I rarely work in California anymore.”

He was in Montreal this summer filming the gangster comedy “Pluto Nash” with Eddie Murphy. This fall he will make his debut as a director with “Just Like Mona,” starring Diane Lane and Andy Garcia. The movie, which he co-wrote, will be filmed in New Jersey.

“Things are good,” the actor said. “I’m moving back to the East Coast after 20 years. I missed the seasons and my family there. I’ll miss my friends here, but I’ll probably be here two to three months a year anyway.”

His four-bedroom, 3,300-square-foot home with city views was built in 1949 but was remodeled recently. The Pantolianos have owned it since 1991.

Ray Ross of Re/Max on the Boulevard in Sherman Oaks is co-listing the house with Carol Ellis of Coldwell Banker, Pacific Palisades.

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Andrea Thompson, who left her role as Det. Jill Kirkendall on “NYPD Blue” in the spring to become a news anchor at an Albuquerque TV station, has sold her Bel-Air home for about $600,000.

Thompson had appeared on the ABC series since 1996, when she also had a recurring role as Cmdr. Krennick on the NBC series “JAG.” Before she made her acting debut as a hooker in the movie “Wall Street” (1987), Thompson was a model.

Thompson said she wants to spend more time with her young son and study for a degree in economics.

The multilevel contemporary-style house was built in 1984 but was remodeled in 1998 by Thompson, who bought it in 1993. The 1,728-square-foot house has two bedrooms and an office.

Jane Siegal of Coldwell Banker Previews, Beverly Hills North, had the listing; Donna Reed of Fred Sands Estates, Brentwood, was the selling agent.

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A Bel-Air property owned by the late Irwin Allen, producer of the movies “The Poseidon Adventure” (1972) and “The Towering Inferno” (1974), has been listed at $1.2 million. Allen was also responsible for the TV series “Lost in Space,” “Land of the Giants” and “Swiss Family Robinson.” He earned an Oscar for the documentary “The Sea Around Us” (1952).

He died at 75 in 1991, and now his widow, Sheila, is ready to sell the house where he kept his office even after the couple moved to Malibu in 1984.

The Bel-Air home, which he bought in the 1960s, is on 1.3 acres. The three-bedroom 1,861-square-foot house was built in 1959.

Joe Babajian of Fred Sands Estates, Beverly Hills, and Mary Alice Von Stroheim of Coldwell Banker Previews, Beverly Hills North, share the listing.

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Hot Property runs Thursdays in SoCal Living and Sundays in Real Estate. Ryon may be reached at ruth.ryon@latimes.com.