Ed McMahon's Home for Sale ... Again

Former sidekick's deal with buyer fell through. Will Trump swoop in to help?

ByABC News
August 29, 2008, 2:38 PM

Aug. 29, 2008— -- Ed McMahon's house is back on the market.

The former "Tonight Show" sidekick shocked many Americans earlier this summer with news that he was on the brink of foreclosure. But things seemed to take a rosy turn for the 85-year-old McMahon after at least two people offered to buy the six-bedroom Beverly Hills mansion.

One of the prospective buyers was real estate mogul Donald Trump, who said he would lease the home back to McMahon.

An unidentified buyer outbid Trump and was set to buy the house until Thursday night, when he "did not perform on a specific point of the contract," McMahon's realtor, Alex Davis, told ABCNews.com today.

Davis said he was confident that there would be another buyer for McMahon's home, but a friend of McMahon's says that the former announcer was disappointed that the deal fell through. McMahon's publicist did not immediately provide comment on the issue.

The failure of one deal might mean the success of another: Michael D. Cohen, executive vice president and special counsel to Donald Trump at the Trump Organization, said that the real estate magnate's offer is still on the table.

"We're speaking with Mr. McMahon's broker as well as [McMahon's mortgage lender] Countrywide," Cohen said.

McMahon isn't the only well-known name struggling with housing woes. As falling house values and troubled mortgages continue to cripple the U.S. housing market, foreclosures seem to be bearing down on the rich and famous like never before.

"There have always been celebrity foreclosures, although I don't recall a time as we've seen as many happen in such a short period of time," said Rick Sharga, the vice president of marketing for the foreclosure listing service RealtyTrac.

Besides McMahon, other celebrities have made headlines this year for facing or escaping foreclosure.

Pop icon Michael Jackson and boxing great Evander Holyfield reportedly managed to avoid foreclosure, but former slugger Jose Conseco and basketball bad boy Latrell Sprewell did not.