He’s leaving the ‘Rush Hour’ in the Valley behind

Chris Tucker, who co-stars with Jackie Chan in the popular “Rush Hour” movies, has put his home in a gated San Fernando Valley community on the market at just under $2.2 million.

Tucker has lived in the home since 1996 and is thinking of building a home in another gated development.

The home Tucker is selling has five bedrooms and seven bathrooms in slightly more than 6,300 square feet. The house also has a loft office, a family room with a wet bar, a master suite with verandas, a steam shower and two walk-in closets; a kitchen with a walk-in pantry; three fireplaces, a gated courtyard; and garages for three cars with direct access into the house.

The home, which also has city and golf course views, sits on nearly an acre with a pool and a spa. Tucker is the original owner of the house, which was built in 1995.

The actor-comedian, 30, co-starred with Chan in two “Rush Hour” comedy-action films and is due to start work in January 2004 on a third. In June, Tucker earned an award at the 2002 MTV Movie Awards for best fight, recognizing his battle in “Rush Hour 2” (2001).

Tucker also has been acknowledged for his travels to Africa this year to witness efforts to fight AIDS and to encourage economic development.

Michele Blackmon of Michele Blackmon Estates in Venice has the listing.

‘King of Romance’ finds right mood in Brentwood

Engelbert Humperdinck, who sold his longtime Holmby Hills home in September as part of a $30-million package including two adjacent properties owned by a financier, has purchased a Mediterranean-style house in Brentwood for about $1.5 million.

The house, built in 1992, has five bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms in slightly more than 4,500 square feet. It is at the end of a gated, private drive. There is a living room with high ceilings, an office, a master suite with a fireplace, two terraces and a balcony.

The singer, 66, had owned his seven-bedroom, 8,200-square-foot Holmby Hills home, known as the Pink Palace, since the 1970s. Built in 1935 for crooner Rudy Vallee, the home also was owned by actress Jayne Mansfield.

Humperdinck, often referred to as “The King of Romance,” sold an average of 5 million records a year from the 1960s to the late ‘90s.

Tracey Hannum of Hilton & Hyland, Beverly Hills, had the listing on the home Humperdinck purchased, and William Robertson of Coldwell Banker represented Humperdinck, sources said.

Home looking like a winner

Bob Baffert, trainer of such winning racehorses as War Emblem, and his wife, Jill, have purchased a home in the new Arcadia community of Anoakia Estates in the $1.7 million-to-$2 million range.

Their house has five bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms in about 5,500 square feet. The home also has a playroom, master retreat, library and detached pool house/cabana with an additional bathroom. The Bafferts have been in the process of putting in their pool and landscaping.

“I’m a front-row kind of guy, and this is definitely the front row,” Bob Baffert, 49, said of his new house.

He and his wife, married in August, had been living in an Arcadia townhouse before buying in the 31-home community, built on the site of the historic Anita Baldwin mansion, which was razed a couple of years ago.

Baffert’s business is based in Arcadia, with extensive barns at Santa Anita Race Track. Besides War Emblem, he trains nearly 50 2-year-olds. War Emblem won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness this year, but the horse ran eighth in the Belmont, missing the Triple Crown. Even so, the thoroughbred is one pick to win the horse-of-the-year honors in January at the Eclipse Awards in Beverly Hills.

Record tycoon on the move again

Ted Field, who established Interscope Records before selling it to Universal for $330 million and has produced such movies as “Mr. Holland’s Opus” (1995) and “Runaway Bride” (1999), has listed his gated estate on the edge of Beverly Hills at close to $9.8 million.

Field, who once owned silent-screen actor Harold Lloyd’s Beverly Hills estate known as Green Acres, likes to change houses every so often. He has owned the home he is selling for about three years.

The 1990 house has nine bedrooms and 12 bathrooms in about 20,000 square feet.

The estate, on slightly more than an acre, also has an indoor racquetball court, a disco/projection room, a rooftop tennis court, a pool and two guest houses.

After selling Interscope Records, Field took over ArtistDirect Inc. and allocated most of its resources to its new record venture. Field, a former race car driver, is an heir to the Marshall Field department-store fortune in Chicago. Forbes put his net worth this year at $1.2 billion and estimated his inheritance at $200 million.

A successful TV as well as film producer, Field, who turned 50 in June, won an Emmy Award with others in 1989 for their outstanding children’s program “A Mother’s Courage: The Mary Thomas Story.”

Stephen Shapiro of Westside Estate Agency, Beverly Hills, has the listing.

Kings’ player lands a lease

Jaroslav Bednar, a right wing with the L.A. Kings, and his wife, Martina, have leased a two-bedroom townhouse behind gates in Manhattan Beach for $3,200 a month.

The 26-year-old hockey player agreed to terms of a one-year contract with the Kings in August. He had four goals and two assists in 22 games for the Kings last season. He also had 16 goals and 27 assists in 48 games for the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League. He is a native of the Czech Republic.

Earlier this month, he was injured in a game when he suffered a hyper-extended elbow.

Phyllis Cohen-Edwards of Shorewood Realtors, Manhattan Beach, handled the lease transaction.

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