Big Names Buy Little House

Comic-impressionist RICH LITTLE’s house on nearly two acres in Malibu has been sold to actor-director JAMES KEACH, who is married to actress JANE SEYMOUR, for close to $3.5 million.

Little, who sold the home as part of his 1990 divorce settlement, has been living in Las Vegas, where he bought a $1-million house in 1992. He and his ex-wife, who had owned the home since the early 1980s, still own nearly six acres adjacent to the Malibu house.

Little, 53, ended a run this weekend at the Osmond Family Theater in Branson, Mo., where he co-starred with comedian-impressionist Jeannette Markey. He’s preparing to kick off a tour in February of his one-man show, “The Presidents,� and plans to tape a comedy album in August.

Keach, who sold his Wilshire-area home last fall for about $415,000 to actress Tyne Daly, married Seymour in the spring of 1993.

Keach, 44, the younger brother of actor Stacy Keach Jr., has appeared in more than 50 films and directed the ABC movie “Passion for Justice: The Hazel Brannon Smith Story,� which aired in April and featured Seymour, star of the CBS series, “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.�

He just finished directing the upcoming western “The Stars Fell on Henrietta,� starring Robert Duvall, and he directed the “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman� segment for which Seymour received an Emmy nomination for the awards this fall. He and Seymour also just inked a deal with CBS for their Catfish Productions company, their publicist said.

The couple lived in Seymour’s Montecito home until it was sold in January as part of her divorce settlement for about $2.9 million. They moved to Malibu then and leased a house until he purchased Little’s.

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The five-bedroom, 6,000-square-foot house is English Country in style with ocean views and a motor court. It was for sale in 1992 at about $7 million on about two acres or $9.5 million on 7.5 acres. The last asking price without the extra acres was about $4.9 million.

BRIGITTE NIELSEN, the Danish actress who was married to Sylvester Stallone and later had a headline romance with football star Mark Gastineau, has sold her Wilshire House condo for close to $895,000, sources say. The unit was originally listed at $1.4 million.

Nielsen, who made her American debut in the 1985 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie “Red Sonja� and then appeared in several other forgettable films, lives in Scandinavia, sources say.

Murray Weisberg and Brad Kimball of Fred Sands Estates, Brentwood, had the listing, and Marilyn Dunn, Prudential Rodeo Realty, represented the buyer, described as a businessman.

Fox-TV’s “Earthman� DAVID GARCIA, a veteran newsman who reports on environmental issues, and his wife, Susie, have purchased a contemporary-style house in Glendale.

The home, which sold for close to its $500,000 asking price, has city views and a sunny studio for Susie, a designer of parade floats for the Pasadena Tournament of Roses. The couple recently sold their smaller, Spanish-style home in Glendale.

Pat Howell of Prudential California Realty in Glendale represented the Garcias in both deals. The couple’s new home was listed with Ed Tracey, of the same office, and the buyer of their former home was represented by Bobbi Burns, Jon Douglas Co.

MICHAEL LYNTON, the publishing executive from New York who was named in June as president of the Walt Disney Co.’s Hollywood Pictures division, and his wife, Jamie Alter, have purchased a walled and gated Los Feliz home, built in 1920, for $1.4 million, sources say.

The five-bedroom, 5,600-square-foot home, listed at $1.65 million with a guest cottage and art studio, was sold by an insurance company executive who moved to the East Coast. Kurt Rappaport and Victoria Risko, both of Nourmand & Associates in Beverly Hills, represented the buyers.

MARTINA RITT, daughter of the late blacklisted director Martin Ritt (“Norma Rae,� “Hud�), has restored a 100-year-old New England-style farmhouse in Montecito and listed it at just under $2.7 million with Penelope Williams of Rodeo Realty, Montecito.

Ritt worked with her father on such films as “Murphy’s Romance� and “Nuts,� and she co-produced “Denial� (1991), starring Robin Wright and Jason Patric. Martin Ritt died in 1990.

Martina Ritt bought her Montecito home in 1991 and then took a sabbatical from work with the birth of her two children. Now that she is writing a screenplay and producing again, Ritt is said to be looking to buy a smaller home in Montecito and a small place in Los Angeles.

Her five-bedroom house is on two acres and has a sports court and Waterford crystal fixtures.

CLARIFICATION: The Benedict Canyon home of the late actor MacDonald Carey sold for $357,500, not $370,000 as sources said in the July 10 Hot Property column. Selling agent Ron Holliman of Jon Douglas Co.’s Sunset Strip office also notes that the buyer was a lawyer from England, not Ireland, as was reported.