When The Neighbors Cannot Get Along.

By Vincent J. Schodolski

Tribune national correspondent

Published November 11, 2004



LOS ANGELES -- Actor James Belushi and actress Julie Newmar are starring in a real-life drama about feuding neighbors, and they're not playing it for laughs.



He's suing her for $4 million, accusing her of spying on him and trying to force him out of his home in the posh Brentwood neighborhood. He says Newmar has complained that he is loud, "sick" and a Peeping Tom.



Newmar, 71, who played Catwoman in the "Batman" television series, and Belushi, 50, the Chicago-born star of the "K-9" movies, have been fighting like cats and dogs for years.



Police were once called to Belushi's house after he complained that Newmar threw an egg at his house. She explained that she was aiming at his noisy air conditioner and missed.



Newmar also finds his voice too loud.



She told the Los Angeles Times that she has a view of Belushi's hot tub from her 6-foot-wide bedroom window.



"When he is in his Jacuzzi, his voice is an indisputable boom box," she said. "I put pillows around my ears. I went out and bought hearing protectors--they are called Thunder 29 and cost $120. They are the kind that airport crews use."



This drama is strange even by Hollywood standards.



"These are both talented people who can be idiosyncratic," said a neighbor who asked that his name not be used. "I still have to live here," he said.



Fight nothing new



He added that the fights have become something of a local legend in the tree-lined streets of Brentwood where houses range from the modest to the spectacular. Belushi, who stars in the sitcom "According to Jim," lives in a two-story house--a bungalow with an added floor--that he bought in the late 1980s. Newmar's single-story ranch-style house next door has been her home for 25 years.



"Let's just say we all share a history," the neighbor said.



In court papers, Belushi claims that Newmar has mounted a coordinated campaign to destroy the actor's peaceful home life to force him out of the neighborhood. He also charges that Newmar vandalized his home and told neighbors that Belushi is a Peeping Tom and that he is "sick."



"This action is necessitated by the continuous and irrational harassment of Belushi and his family by Julie Newmar," the complaint states. "Newmar has engaged in a malicious and premeditated campaign to prevent and destroy Belushi's quiet peace and enjoyment of his home and to force Belushi out of his neighborhood."



The court papers go on to state specific charges against Newmar.



"Among other things, Newmar has vandalized Belushi's home, trespassed on his property, destroyed his personal property and made false and defamatory statements regarding Belushi to his neighbors."



The court filing states that the most recent incident occurred in September when Newmar is alleged to have destroyed "costly landscaping on the Belushi residence."



It also alleges that Newmar "frequently peers over the fence protecting the Belushi residence to spy on Belushi and his family."



Newmar has denied the accusations in news accounts and said it is Belushi who is trying to drive her out of her home.



Damages and legal fees



Neither Belushi nor Newmar responded to requests for interviews.



The lawsuit is the latest in a series of strange episodes between the two.



The egg-and-air-conditioner incident, for one, cost Newmar $10,000 in damages and legal fees, she said.



Newmar has complained that Belushi painted the curb in front of his house red to prevent other residents on the street from parking there.



Newmar, who appeared in several musicals and has guest-starred on numerous TV shows, is a community activist. She and other film and televisions stars were involved in a campaign several years ago to ban noisy leaf blowers.



It is not clear when there will be a resolution to the suit filed last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The case is to be heard Feb. 14.



While Newmar may have friends in high places in California, Belushi has ties to the most powerful officeholder in the state--Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Back in 1988, the two starred in the film "Red Heat." Belushi played a Chicago police officer and Schwarzenegger played Moscow's top cop on the trail of a narcotics kingpin.



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