She Figures On Staying in Area

Jane Russell, who made her film debut during the 1940s in Howard Hughes’ “The Outlaw” and co-starred with Marilyn Monroe in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” (1953), has listed her Montecito home at $2.7 million.

Russell, who will turn 78 on Monday, made about 20 films, co-starring with such leading men as Clark Gable, Robert Mitchum and Bob Hope.

She still appears occasionally on TV. Last week, she was on “Larry King Live,” and she is periodically on the Christian TV outlet the Trinity Broadcasting Network. A singer as well as an actress, Russell made a number of religious recordings in the ‘50s. She also sang the Oscar-winning song “Buttons and Bows” in the Bob Hope comedy “The Paleface” (1948).

In the ‘70s, she made her Broadway debut in “Company” and was in a series of TV commercials for the Playtex Cross Your Heart bra. Russell’s buxom figure was used to promote “The Outlaw,” and as part of the publicity, Hughes designed a special bra for her, although she never wore it.

The last movie in which she appeared was “Darker Than Amber” (1970), but she starred in the ABC series “The Yellow Rose” (1983-84).

She has lived in her Montecito home since 1985. She decided to sell it after her husband, real estate broker and builder John Peoples, died in April. Russell plans to stay in the area but move to smaller quarters.

Originally built in 1954 and later expanded by Peoples, her home includes a four-bedroom main house, a guest house, a pool house and an apartment over the garage. A creek runs through the park-like, 1 1/2-acre grounds.

Bill Gardner, a Montecito broker, has the listing.

“The X-Files” creator Chris Carter has purchased a Malibu home from Dottie Dartland, executive producer and co-creator of the ABC comedy series “Dharma & Greg,” for about $1.7 million. Both Carter, 41, and Dartland, 34, are surfers.

Carter also is executive producer of the Fox series “Millennium,” and he produced and wrote the 1998 feature-film version of “The X-Files.”

The house Carter purchased is behind gates and has four bedrooms in 3,500 square feet. Built in 1957 and recently remodeled, the home, which Dartland had owned for three years, is on 1 1/2 acres, and has a pool, spa and lighted tennis court. The home also has access to a private beach.

Dartland put her house on the market in December when she bought a larger house nearby.

Ralph Edwards, creator, producer and host of the long-running radio and TV series “This Is Your Life” and “Truth or Consequences,” has listed his Malibu home at $9.5 million.

The home is on almost an acre with 120 feet of private beach. The five-bedroom, four-bathroom house has a media room, oceanfront deck and gated motor court. The nearly 3,000-square-foot house was built in 1958.

Edwards, 86, lives in Beverly Hills and doesn’t use his Malibu home. He also owns three Malibu lots, which he had for sale in December as a package at just under $2.5 million; however, the lots were taken off the market.

His beach home is listed with Jack Pritchett of Pritchett-Rapf & Associates, Malibu, sources said.

A 25,000-square-foot French chateau on a 2 1/2-acre, Beverly Hills-area knoll has been sold for about $8 million. The buyer is a local businessman who plans to change the dark Victorian decor.

The bank-owned home was built in 1992 by antiques dealer Mark Slotkin on the site of a 1920s Mediterranean-style home owned at one time by silent-screen star John Gilbert and then by producer David O. Selznick and his wife, actress Jennifer Jones. Singer Elton John later bought the property and sold it to Slotkin in 1981.

After Slotkin built the new house, it was on and off the market for years.

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

A Holmby Hills home has been sold for about $13 million to a billionaire from Asia. The house, which has six bedrooms and two or three maid’s rooms in 15,000 square feet, was built three years ago. After building the house, the seller, a local businessman, decided that it was too big for him.

The gated and walled property is on an acre with a tennis court, pool and gardens. It was formerly the site of a home owned by actress Irene Dunne.

Did you miss Thursday’s Hot Property column in Southern California Living? Want to see previous columns on celebrity real estate transactions? Visit https://www.latimes.com/hotproperty on the Internet for more Hot Properties.