Sierra Towers: The Secrets of L.A.'s Strange, Sexy Celebrity Condo

The way real estate agent Russ Filice remembers it, one day in the early 2000s, he gave a tour of a Sierra Towers condominium to Eddie Fisher, the former teen idol and singer, and his daughters Tricia Leigh Fisher and Joely Fisher. The late entertainer's brood wanted him to move into the 31-story West Hollywood high-rise, and the visit brought back memories for Fisher, former husband to both Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor, then in his 70s. "When we were touring him with his daughters, he said, 'Oh, I used to party here all the time with Yul Brynner, doing cocaine.' And they said, 'We know, Dad, we know,' " Filice recalls. "I thought, 'How interesting.' If these walls could talk."our editor recommendsHollywood's Biggest Real Estate Deals of the Week: Matthew Perry, Val Kilmer, Donald Trump (Photos) Indeed, Sierra Towers -- long the choice of Hollywood stars, rock 'n' roll gods and showbiz moguls alike -- is brimming with colorful tales that have only added to its appeal and mystique. There is no other residential building in Los Angeles that has housed such a diverse and large group of notables: former residents include David Geffen, Sidney Poitier and Lindsay Lohan(see chart below).Cher, Elton John and Joan Collins are current residents, and THR has learned that Courteney Cox recently bought a two-bedroom, upper-floor unit at the 9255 Doheny Road tower. They've all flocked to a building that is known for its jaw-dropping views, sharp midcentury architecture, discreet staff and prime location on the eastern edge of Beverly Hills at the base of the Hollywood Hills (Sierra Towers is around the corner from Soho House). The building is effectively irreplaceable because current zoning restrictions would make it difficult to build such a tower in West Hollywood, where it is the tallest building. These factors have made Sierra Towers one of L.A.'s most expensive high-rises and helped fuel an explosion in prices and interest there ever since the boom of the mid-2000s. It is one of only a handful of L.A. condo buildings where units routinely sell for more than $1,000 per square foot, an industry benchmark. PHOTOS: Matthew Perry's $30 Million in Real Estate -- Two Listings, One Sale, One Purchase All In A Few Weeks And though Fisher never wound up buying at Sierra Towers, his interest in it is illustrative: The 146-unit property appeals to all generations -- it is a place where starlet Lily Collins could share a dip in the pool or an elevator ride with Joan Collins or her Dynasty nemesis, Diahann Carroll. "You have to be in full makeup at all times when you get in the elevator -- you never know who you are going to run into," says Nikki Haskell, the StarShape diet and fitness guru and a Sierra Towers resident since 1990. She is testing the waters and has put her two-bedroom unit on the market for $3.2 million. Still, Haskell says selling it "would totally break my heart." There are several apocryphal tales about the building's early days that only add to its legend. Residents say that the site for Sierra Towers was originally situated in Beverly Hills, but when that city balked at the proposed height, the property was annexed by Los Angeles County, which then allowed construction to move forward. There are also tales of payoffs by organized crime to neighbors in nearby buildings and houses who grumbled about their views being ruined; another story involves Frank Sinatra helping to get the building completed after construction stalled because he wanted a place for his mother to live. The building is also said to get its plural name from scuttled original plans to build a second tower. (The cities of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood as well as the Los Angeles Conservancy have no records or information that validate these stories.) PHOTOS: Hollywood's Biggest Real Estate Deals of the Week: Matthew Perry, Val Kilmer, Donald Trump What is known about the building's history is much more straightforward. Sierra Towers was developed for $12 million by Walter and Leo Minskoff, whose family firm also built NY's Minskoff Theatre. The building opened in 1966, just as the adjacent Sunset Strip was roaring to life, and became the tallest residential structure in Los Angeles. The architect, Jack A. Charney, who studied under Richard Neutra and Rudolph Schindler, said in a 1965 Los Angeles Times article that he designed the building "to take maximum advantage of views of city, mountains and ocean." To that end, units in the building, which includes one-, two- and three-bedroom residences, feature true floor-to-ceiling windows and expansive terraces. Sierra Towers was first operated as a rental property, but following its purchase by NY real estate investor Helmsley Spear Inc., the building was converted to condominiums in 1974. Back then, a one-bedroom condo could be had for $70,500 and a three-bedroom unit for $152,500, according to a 1974 Los Angeles Times story. The building drew actors, socialites and singers; The Fugitive star David Janssen settled in, as did star jockey Willie Shoemaker and later, Tawny Kitaen. These days, Sierra Towers condos routinely fetch prices typically reserved for houses in Beverly Hills or Brentwood. This fall, for example, Matthew Perry unloaded a two-bedroom unit for slightly less than $3 million; he had bought it from John in 2005 for $3.2 million. According to data from the Multiple Listing Service, 10 units have been sold in 2011, with an average price of $2.1 million ($1,080 per square foot). That's up from 2010, when eight were sold for an average price of $1.6 million ($850 per square foot). Still, prices are down from the boom years, when units sold for more than $2,000 per square foot; and at the height of the recession in 2009, only one unit traded hands. But Filice cautions that recent sales figures don't tell the whole story because some deals are conducted off the market and don't appear in sales databases. He said there have been three such sales this year. EXCLUSIVE: Hollywood's Historic Taft Building for Sale Filice knows the building well. A San Francisco transplant, he bought a unit in January 2002 for $725,000 after being captivated by the views, locale and -- perhaps most of all -- an opportunity. The Sotheby's International Realty agent felt that the building, which at the time had fallen out of favor with the celebrity set, could be repositioned to a new generation of Hollywood players. He says that his grassroots advertising campaign brought a slew of new residents to the tower, transforming it into a hotspot for young Hollywood. During the past decade, Lohan and Rachel Zoe moved in, among others. In the boom years, some flippers -- including Vincent Gallo -- made a fortune, turning units quickly for profits in the millions. Residents say that the building functions as a true community: A-listers are friendly in the hallways, quick to offer a smile or hold the elevator. "Everybody in the building has a tremendous amount of privacy -- it's not every man for himself," Haskell says. But the building's array of outsize personalities has produced memorable moments for some residents. A handful of stories, in fact, revolve around the building's elevators, of which there are just two -- an oversight by the developer that, Kitaen says, made it cumbersome to remodel her many residences (she lived in five units from the early 1980s to 2008). With only two elevators, strange trips can occur. Filice, for example, recalls one ride he took that ended with the doors opening on Lohan, clothed only in an unbuttoned men's dress shirt, in the midst of an argument with then-boyfriend Scott Storch, a record producer. (Filice, who says he has sold more than 100 units at the building, no longer lives there.) One former resident recalls working out in the gym and expecting to see a "catfight between Alex Carrington and Dominique Deveraux" -- the Dynasty characters portrayed by Collins and Carroll, respectively. (It didn't happen.) Through the years, owners have taken advantage of the building's design to re-imagine their units. Because Sierra Towers was built with crawl space between floors, owners are afforded great flexibility in rerouting plumbing and other systems to different places in units. Among those who've put their own stamp on things: Charles S. Cohen, owner of the Pacific Design Center, who has combined three units. Cher's unit is the only two-story condo in the building -- it was previously owned by Gallo and earlier, Geffen. For his part, John has created a residence for his 10-month-old son, Zachary, that is adjacent to the singer's pad. Kitaen, Haskell and others say the building's staff of 37 -- which includes security personnel, porters and 11 valets, distinguishes it from other high-end condo properties, including Wilshire Corridor mainstays such as the Blair House and new additions like The Century. That sentiment is echoed by Sotheby's agent Josh Greer, also a resident. "There are newer, glossier, flashier buildings on the Corridor, but they are dime-a-dozen," says Greer, who has owned several units in the tower over the years and sold seven there in the past six months. "I come home and they hand me my FedEx packages and take my car, which is perfectly washed by the valets. I am never going to leave." Of course, homeowner association dues are dear: A fee of roughly $1.20 per square foot per month means that the owner of a 2,100-square-foot, three-bedroom unit forks over about $2,520 per month. Greer likens Sierra Towers to a top-tier NY co-op, such as the Dakota. But unlike Manhattan, where there are several residential towers favored by that city's elite, in L.A., a confluence of timing, location and Hollywood glamour has allowed Sierra Towers to stand alone. News that five units are now on the market -- including a $9.5 million penthouse -- excites Kitaen, who wishes she could return to the building she long called home. The onetime Whitesnake music video star longingly recounts her days at Sierra Towers, saying she wakes up "thinking about it every morning, going 'Goddamn it, why did I sell my place?'" Email: Daniel.Miller@THR.com Twitter: @DanielNMiller Related Topics Real Estate

Matt's Self-help guide to Thursday TV: A Halloween Classic, Beavis & Butt-mind Return plus much more!

Beavis and Butt-Mind, Beavis As well as the Halloween countdown continues ...Getting an authentic classic in the lead, since the patient and faithful Linus once again declares It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (ABC, 8/7c), as he's been doing because the Charles Schulz animated special opened up in 1966 (company, I used to be the crowd in individuals days). As Lucy runs afoul of dog bacteria, Charlie Brown collects rocks within the trick-or-treat sack, and Snoopy rides the Sopwith Camel doghouse of his imagination in to the First World War fight, we could appreciate how a number of things never get old. (To accomplish the hour, ABC includes the less memorable but relatively timely You aren't Selected, Charlie Brown, while using indefatigable Linus running for class leader.)Also not seeming to own aged - or matured - every day simply because they left MTV's regular rotation 14 in the past, Mike Judge's chuckling metalhead idiots Beavis & Butt-mind have came back (10/9c) with new exploits and fresh pop-cultural targets to mock, including MTV reality swill like Jersey Shoreline and teen items like the Twilight phenom. It's yoked for the instantly forgettable new toon Good Vibes (10:30/9:30c), an even more typically crass buddy comedy of a Jersey whale-out-of-water (voiced by Book of Mormon star Josh Gad) who moves for the California beach along with his buxom mother (Debi Mazar), the foundation more than a few in the onslaught of boob jokes that could leave even B&B bored.Want more fall TV news? Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!NBC's comedies - aside from Whitney, which barely even qualifies anyway - go Halloween happy, while using clever highlight (of course) being the constantly underappreciated Community (8/7c), which possibly properly doesn't make an effort to top last season's amazing zombie extravaganza (although there is a shout-to Dean Pelton's penchant to get "free taco meat within the Military" on campus). This Years Halloween experiment can be a more sensible but nonetheless stylized affair, while using group taking turns telling their version from the frightening story, as Britta tries to intuit which of her pals may have an "extreme personality disorder." (Why visit one?) Especially amusing are Annie's remarkably sadistic Hammer horror parody and Shirley's warped vision in the Rapture.Parks and Entertainment (8:30/7:30c) evolves its episode around a raucous Halloween situated by Andy and April, with uptight housemate Ben none too thrilled to function as last to know. (You'd think he'd be just nerdy enough to enter the groove, but alas, no Batman suit now.) ... The festivities are restricted to work (9/8c) workplace as Erin tries to please both masters in planning Dunder Mifflin's party: the awkward new boss Andy as well as the ever-inscrutable Boss Robert California, who can't help playing mind games with everyone, even resulting in themselves sooner or later to question, "What am I around?In . If perhaps I understood, and when only it were more amusing.Not available for review, but vulnerable to crush your competitors inside the ratings, CBS' The Big Bang Theory (8/7c) finds Sheldon trying to place a Halloween scare within the geek pals. Are you aware the chances that will backfire?Legitimate supernatural frights, the CW combo in the Vampire Journals (8/7c) as well as the Secret Circle (9/8c) have been in least for the (haunted) manor born. On Vampire, ghosts take center stage on Illumination Evening, as Elena asks Jeremy to take advantage of his recently found gifts just like a medium to help her achieve towards the possessed Ripper-Stefan, and Damon consults Bonnie after tangling with another unhappy spirit. The derivative Circle borrows within the Journals playbook (just what else is completely new) through getting its witchy coven throw a Halloween where, as you'd expect, uninvited site visitors bring danger.It's finally Fashion Week finale time on Lifetime's Project Runway (9/8c), since the final four designers - nobody was cut in last week's cop-out - reveal their collections for starters last critique within the idol idol judges (including designer L'Wren Scott as guest judge), and fans pray the finish result isn't as upsetting as last season's inexplicable Gretchen-over-Mondo win. I'm rooting for Viktor. ... The confetti will still be flying as Lifetime wastes almost no time in beginning the rather flimsy sounding spin-off Project Accessory (10:30/9:30c), which is one of the styling, as participants transform numerous fundamental clothes - inside the premiere, a white-colored T-shirt and jeans - by choosing baubles, buckles, bags and then try to the very best shoes. Inside the opening challenge, the designers must fashion their add-ons from materials contained in a storage unit. Molly Sim cards hosts, with idol idol judges including designer Kenneth Cole, InStyle editor Ariel Foxman, and tonight's guest judge, Debra Playing.Just what else is on? ... Postponed by bad weather Wednesday evening, the sixth (and possibly final) game around the world Series from St. Louis is scheduled on Fox (7:30/ET), while using Rangers up 3 games for the Cardinals' 2. ... Guest-star alert, as E.T.'s grown-up Henry Thomas appears on CBS' The Mentalist (10/9c) as Lisbon's youthful brother, a fugitive hunter. ... Another familiar TV face, Paige Turco (The Organization), might be the prospective-du-jour on CBS' Person of curiosity (9/8c), just like a cunning fixer who captures Reese's fancy. Hey, whether or not this cheers him up just a little. ... NBC systems up its extended "strip" of Prime Suspect having a completely new episode (10/9c) through which Jane seeks the killer from the lady found wiped out neighborhood, while finding time to mark an important anniversary along with her father.Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!

The Black List Beginning Site That Tracks Most Broadly Used Scripts Instantly

EXCLUSIVE: Film executive Franklin Leonard has maintained The Black List in the last six years to champion hundreds of gifted screenwriters andunproduced scripts.Well over125screenplays are actually transformed into movies,and so they’re responsible for 20 Oscars and roughly $10 billion in worldwide grosses. Today Leonard develops The Black List by beginning awebsite that tracks Hollywood’s most broadly used scripts instantly.Blcklst.combases its info onpolling hundreds of greater level studio and production company professionals that are directly associated with moviemaking. The client-only site ($20 monthly) will expand the pool of movie professionals to include agents and company company directors who'll identify the scripts that they like best.Blcklst.com information will sort them with a couple of criteria: most broadly used, and several popular dramas or comediesof yesteryear week, month or whatever. For example, on Tuesday evening, I broke news in the purchase to Warner Bros ofThe Imitation Game about math genius Alan Turing. It has been the most used available new script among 100s of beta-test clients of Blcklst.com within the last number of several days. One factor, though,Leonard’s website will not be accessible to everybody, however. Verified membership will probably be extended to include agents, managers, company company directors, stars, and authors who'll rate scripts in line with the things that like best. In addition, the verified subscription format is built to prevent data manipulation. Strangely enough, there will not be any “worst of” groups. (Gee where’s the enjoyment if there’s no trashing or bashing?) The parameters are strictly based on what individuals like best and why. Leonardhopes the web site will expand which The Black List has accomplished and help make the film market more effective by determining great scripts with creative and potential profit additionally to draw in major talent. Furthermore, The Black List features in some authors beneath the blog.blcklst.com umbrella, Scott Myers at gointothestory (now gointothestory.blcklst.com) and Xander Bennett at Screenwriting Tips… You Hack (now screenwritingtips.blcklst.com). Bennett’s book based on his blog of the title ongoing purchase today from Focal Press. For your uninitiated, The Black List isLeonard’s hot unproduced script pecking order they began in 2004 and set together every year within the suggestions of hundreds of film professionals, who each adds what they're known as up to ten from the favorite scripts that have been developed in, or are in some manner exclusively associated with, that twelve several weeks and will not be released in theatersthat twelve several weeks, either. The Black List catapults a lot of scripts into production and screenwriters from oblivion. Diablo Cody’s Juno, Nancy Oliver’s Lars As Well As The Real Girl, Scott Neustader’s and Michael Weber’s 500 Occasions Of Summer season, are are are just some of the scripts which came out round the Black List after which it were made. I’ve observed it’s furthermore a “big dick” calculating contest for your Hollywood agencies in addition to their film lit departments. Problem is, some screenwriters think this list isn’t round the up-and-up and accuse junior studio professionals and assistants as well as self-interested agents and managers of getting together to push their unique clients on projects even if already abandoned.

Ultraviolet set for global roll-out

CANNES -- The new cloud storage system Ultraviolet, which bows in the U.S. Oct. 11, will announce a global roll-out in the coming months with launches imminent in both the U.K. and Canada. Warner Bros. exec Justin Herz, speaking during a conference session at Mipcom Tuesday, said that more than 50% of the studio's film and TV catalog would be available via UV by the end of next year while Fox indicated that "a significant" amount of its fare would soon be UV-enabled. The studios that have signed up for UV, which include NBC Universal and Fox -- a group from which Disney is conspicuously absent -- hope the new technology will re-ignite the home entertainment market and prove a much-needed boost to revenues following the collapse of DVD sales, and the failure of Blu-ray to generate widespread excitement among film and TV lovers. UV-enabled discs allow consumers to watch the same piece of content on 12 different devices, be it connected TVs, laptops, tablets or mobiles, anywhere in the world once they open an account giving them access to online streaming. The first UV release, Warners' "Horrible Bosses," bows Oct. 11, with further releases due in the coming weeks. The first TV skein will be CW's "One Tree Hill," and is expected in the coming months, indicated Herz. Despite the imminent launch Mark Teitell, general manager of the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, declined to say how much the service would cost. This would be worked out between content suppliers and retail partners. But Herz, senior VP, direct-to-consumer, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution and general manager, Warner Bros. advanced digital services, was anything but tight-lipped on how digital distribution had to date let down the public. He said: "We have done a terrible job at introducing digital product and the consumer has voted vociferously against what we have done." Whether UV does any better remains to be seen, but Teitell sounded determined, if realistic. He said: "There is a lot to be worked out. We are just getting startedThe goal is to make Ultraviolet available everywhere Blu-rays and DVDs are for sale." Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

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ESPN Pulls Hank Williams Jr. Intro After He Compared President Obama to Hitler

Hank Williams Jr. ESPN is no longer "ready for some football" after Hank Williams Jr. made comments comparing President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler, CNN reports. The country singer, appearing on Fox News' Fox and Friends Monday morning, referred to a June golf game when Obama and House Speaker John Boehner played on the same team as "one of the biggest political mistakes ever." Williams then added "that'd be like Hitler playing golf with [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu. Not hardly." Photo timeline: The emasculation of men on TV ESPN released a statement on Monday saying that although Williams "is not an ESPN employee, we recognize that he is closely linked to our company through the open to Monday Night Football. We are extremely disappointed with his comments and as a result we have decided to pull the open from tonight's telecast." Williams' "Are You Ready for Some Football" intro, which has opened Monday Night Football since the late '80s, comes from his hit 1984 song, "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight." When's the game on? Add Monday Night Football to your watchlist and never miss a game again Williams, 62, issued a statement saying that his comment was "extreme" and that he "always respected the office of the president," but did not apologize. "I was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me -- how ludicrous that pairing was. They're polar opposites, and it made no sense. They don't see eye-to-eye and never will." He added: "Working-class people are hurting -- and it doesn't seem like anybody cares. When both sides are high-fiving it on the ninth hole when everybody else is without a job -- it makes a whole lot of us angry. Something has to change. The policies have to change." Do you think ESPN was right to pull Williams' intro?

'Jungle Report' to Universal

'The Jungle Report'International brand manager PGS Entertainment has inked a deal with Universal Pictures Video for worldwide distribution of "The Jungle Bunch," single-hour, CGI 3d toon special produced by Gaul's TAT.UPV also acquired "The Jungle Report," made up of 26 1 1/2-minute episodes, for distribution inside the U.S., Canada, U.K., Germany, Italia, Benelux and Australia.Deal was introduced at Mip Junior, the two-day kids' programming mart, which wrapped Sunday in Cannes."The Jungle Bunch" was presented by Philippe Soutter, co-founding father of Paris-based PGS Entertainment just like a promising TV property through the Certification Challenge.A family group laffer, "The Jungle Bunch" triggers a gang of jungle animals plus an eccentric penguin beginning by having an eventful trip to the Antarctic ice flow.Commissioned by French pubcaster France Televisions, both formats were pre-bought by Disney Japan, Discovery Funnel Latin America, Italy's RAI, Denmark's DR, Belgium's RTBF and Switzerland's TSR."The Jungle Bunch" and "The Jungle Report" were composed and directed by TAT founders David Alaux, Eric Tosti and Jean-Francois Tosti. TAT may also be developing a spinoff half-hour TV series for France Televisions.Soutter, who known towards the show just like a "'Madagascar' meets 'The A-Team,'" mentioned the primary one-hour special is a superb reason behind admittance to expand the organization, because the shorts might help create global awareness. "Jungle Report" is co-produced by Vanilla Seed and Master Films. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com