New ‘Mr. Big’ in Malibu Colony

Actor TOM HANKS has purchased the Malibu Colony home of director John Frankenheimer for close to its $3.25-million asking price, sources say.

Hanks, who co-starred in the 1990 film “The Bonfire of the Vanities,” also starred in such films as “Splash” (1984), “Dragnet” (1987) and “Big” (1988).

“Big” earned Hanks a “Best Actor” Oscar nomination for his role as a boy who mentally remains 12 years old but gets his wish to physically become an adult.

Frankenheimer, who directed the Cold War thriller “The Fourth War”--released in March, also directed such films as “The Manchurian Candidate” (1962), “Birdman of Alcatraz” (1962) and “The French Connection II” (1975).

The Malibu home is believed to be Hanks’ first California residence, though Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, had a baby son last August in a Los Angeles hospital.

“He leased a house last summer at Carbon Beach and decided then to buy a place in Malibu,” said a real estate source who was not involved in the deal.

The property he bought is on the beach, behind the gates of Malibu Colony. Built in 1928 but recently remodeled, the two-story house has two bedrooms downstairs and one bedroom upstairs in about 1,800 square feet. The master bedroom has a balcony and an ocean view.

Separate from the main quarters, there is a housekeeper’s room and a two-bedroom guest apartment with a kitchen.

John and Evans Frankenheimer sold the home because they bought a Beverly Hills residence with a tennis court about a year ago, sources say. Their Malibu home has been on the market since they bought in Beverly Hills.

Hanks was represented by Carol Rapf of Jim Rapf & Associates, and the Frankenheimers were represented by Annie Constantinesco and Joan Leopold of Stan Herman Associates.

Swedish actress BRITT EKLAND and her husband, drummer/songwriter JIM (Slim Jim) McDONNELL of the rockabilly group Stray Cats have listed their Hollywood Hills home at $1,095,000.

Situated in an area of upper Doheny Drive known as Doheny Estates, the ranch-style house has four bedrooms in about 3,000 square feet. It also has an atrium, swimming pool and sauna.

“They’re looking to move closer to the beach,” said Denise Giovanello of Fred Sands’ Hollywood Hills office, “and their present home here is just too large for them.”

Ekland has two grown children, but she and her husband have only one child, a 3-year-old, living with them.

“Britt is an active housewife and mother and travels between this home and their home in London,” Giovanello said.

Ekland starred in the 1973 James Bond film “The Man With the Golden Gun” as well as such other early ‘70s movies as “Royal Flash” and “Ultimate Thrill.”

Stray Cats has an album coming out in June and just returned from a tour of Japan and Australia.

JOE MANTEGNA, who co-stars with Kevin Bacon and John Malkovich in the movie “Queens Logic,” and his wife, ARLENE, have purchased a five-bedroom home in the Toluca Lake area for $1.58 million, according to public records.

Built in 1989, the house has five bedrooms and four baths in about 7,300 square feet.

The Mantegnas and their two little girls were previously living in a three-bedroom, ranch-style house in the same neighborhood.

Mantegna, 43, grew up in Cicero, Ill., a tough Chicago suburb whose best known native remains Al Capone. When he moved to Los Angeles in 1978, Mantegna supported himself by running a small photography business, taking head shots of other actors.

By 1983, he was back in Chicago and then on Broadway, where he won a Tony Award before appearing in “Weeds,” the 1987 film starring Nick Nolte. Mantegna also appeared in “Three Amigos!”, “The Money Pit” and “Compromising Positions.”

Then, last year, he enjoyed the biggest year in his acting career to date by co-starring in the December-released films “Godfather III” and Woody Allen’s “Alice.” In “Godfather III,” he played Joey Zasa, the Corleone family rival, and in “Alice,” he played a jazz musician.

The Bubble House in Pasadena, built in 1946 as an example of affordable housing, has been listed at $500,000.

The late architect WALLACE NEFF, who designed dozens of movie-star mansions in Beverly Hills, built the two-bedroom, one-bath home with a bomb shelter at a cost of $10,000. He took the concept to Mexico, Portugal, Brazil, Pakistan, Dakar and Egypt, where thousands of the dome-shaped homes were constructed.

Describing the building process, the architect’s son, Wallace Neff Jr., said, “A synthetic balloon would be tied down to a concrete slab. Then the balloon would be inflated and covered with steel rods and mesh, which would be sprayed with concrete, except where there were windows and doors.

“When the concrete dried, they’d let the air out of the balloon, which they’d then drag out the front door and lay on the next slab to be blown up again. You can build thousands of homes with one balloon.”

Only two of these houses were built in California, for the architect and his brother, but one was torn down.

Builder S. Randy Nerenberg has owned the remaining one for the past 11 years. “I neglected it for a long time,” he said, “and then I got married and started having kids, so I remodeled the bath and kitchen and upgraded the electrical.”

Barbara Rose of Coldwell Banker and Nadine Tennies of Tennies & Associates share the listing.