Rita Jenrette
Rita Jenrette in 2007
Born
Rita Sue Carpenter

(1949-11-25) November 25, 1949
San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actress, model, television reporter, real estate broker
Known forActivism on behalf of architectural preservation.
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1976; div. 1981)​
    Nicolò Boncompagni Ludovisi
    ​
    ​
    (m. 2009; died 2018)​

    Rita Jenrette (née Carpenter) is an American actress, television journalist, and real estate executive.

    Education

    Jenrette earned her Bachelor's degree in history, cum laude, from the University of Texas in 1971.[1]

    Career

    Politics

    In 1973, she became the director of research for the Republican Party of Texas. In 1974, Jenrette was a visiting lecturer at the Taft Political Institute at Trinity University. In 1975, she was Opposition research Director of the Republican National Committee, under the chairmanship of Mary Louise Smith. On September 10, 1976, she married freshman Democratic whip John Jenrette (of ABSCAM notoriety) of South Carolina, 18 months after meeting him on Capitol Hill.[2]

    In 1977, Jenrette worked as a research associate at the Office of Technology Assessment then under the co-chairmanship of Senators Hubert H. Humphrey and Edward M. Kennedy. She co-authored a report with Ray Hoehle on the Food for Peace program, which was presented to the Presidential Commission on World Food Hunger.

    In 1978, Jenrette was picked by the Washington Post Sunday magazine as one of four dynamic young women of Washington, D.C.[3]

    Entertainment

    She was a Clairol model.[4]

    She has written two published books. My Capitol Secrets appeared in 1981 and detailed her experiences as a Congressional spouse. Conglomerate, an online romance novel, was published in 1985. She reports that Roger Ailes offered her a position as a Washington television correspondent, but she declined.[5]

    In 1982, Jenrette received the Drama-Logue Critics Award for her performance in The Philadelphia Story.[6] She also appeared in several plays, movies, including Zombie Island Massacre (1984), and television series, including Fantasy Island in the mid-1980s.

    In 1986, she appeared in an episode of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous."[5] This led in 1989 to Jenrette's becoming an on-air journalist on Fox television’s A Current Affair where she interviewed celebrities.[5]

    Real estate

    Photo from 2009 wedding to Prince Nicolò Boncompagni Ludovisi of Piombino

    In 1994, she began a career in real estate. In 1996, Crain's New York Business described Jenrette as a "Power Broker New York Style."[7] In 1999, she sued Simon Properties for $6 million for failing to pay her a commission on the $800 million sale of the General Motors Building to Donald Trump;[8] the parties agreed to a settlement before the case went to trial.[9] In 2003, she completed an Executive Management Program at Harvard Business School.[10]

    Personal life

    Born Rita Carpenter, her father, C. Hunt Carpenter, was a millionaire from an insurance business and natural gas investments. She worked for the Republican party but in 1976 married Democratic South Carolina Congressman John Jenrette.[11]

    John was convicted for taking a bribe during the Abscam investigation in October 1980.[12] She appeared on the Phil Donahue Show and he called in live to join the conversation. At his trial, she testified in her husband's defense.

    Subsequently, she alerted authorities to $25,000 she found in her husband's closet, saying it was part of the Abscam money.[13]

    She gave an interview to Playboy that appeared in the April 1981 issue, accompanied by a nude pictorial.[14] The article's revelation that she and her husband had sex on the steps of the U.S. Capitol during a break in an all-night House session caused a hoopla. She claimed that the couple were still "happily married" at the time the Playboy pictorial was photographed,[15] although they had separated by the time it was published. The comedy group Capitol Steps takes its name from this escapade.

    Jenrette again appeared in Playboy in the May 1984 issue on the cover and in a pictorial.[16] She separated from her husband in January 1981 and they were divorced shortly thereafter.

    She met Prince Nicolò Boncompagni Ludovisi of Piombino (1941–2018) in 2003 when working as a broker to develop a project on land he owned.[11] He was at the time married to his second wife, Ludmilla Boncompagni Ludovisi.[5] Boncompagni Ludovisi and Jenrette married on May 27, 2009.[5] To commemorate the marriage with Jenrette, the prince commissioned the recreation of a fragrance originally devised for one of his ancestors.[17] The couple lived in his 16th-century family home in Rome, called the Casino dell'Aurora, or sometimes Casino Ludovisi,[18] which they renovated.[19] She resided for years on the premises and has opened it to the public, giving tours and hosting charitable events there.[20][21] She has promoted new research on the history of the property as well as the creation of a related scholarly resource, the Archivio Digitale Boncompagni Ludovisi.[22]

    To settle an inheritance dispute, an Italian judge ordered Villa Aurora to be offered at auction in January 2022 for $531 million, but it attracted no bidders.[5] It is to be put up for auction again at a slightly lower price. It contains the world's only ceiling mural by Caravaggio.[23]

    On 20 April 2023, Jenrette was ordered to vacate the Casino Ludovisi by order of a court of law as part of a ruling that she failed to maintain the historic property after a wall collapsed and blocked a nearby street. She declined to leave, forcing the Carabinieri to evict her.[24][25] As she fled through the back door of the villa, she tripped and broke two ribs and her clavicle.[11] As of May 13, 2023, she was staying in a villa outside Rome owned by a friend.[11]

    Filmography

    Jenrette appeared in the following films and television shows:

    Year Title
    1981 The Edge of Night
    1982 Fantasy Island
    1984 Zombie Island Massacre
    1986 The Malibu Bikini Shop
    1987 End of the Line
    1992 Dream On

    References

    1. ↑ Rudner, Dennis (December 30, 2021). "'Ugly Duckling': Princess Selling $530M Rome Villa Was Shy as San Antonio Child". San Antonio Express News. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
    2. ↑ Albert, James A. (1989). Pay Dirt: Divorces of the Rich and Famous. Berkley Books. p. 191. ISBN 9780425128251.
    3. ↑ Maxa, Rudy (January 1, 1978). "The Gorgeous Blondes". The Washington Post Magazine. Archived from the original on January 3, 2007. Retrieved March 12, 2008.
    4. ↑ "Rita Jennrette denies posing in the nude". Eugene Register-Guard. Eugene, OR. UPI. December 2, 1980. p. 7A. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
    5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Horowitz, Jason (March 5, 2022). "A Princess from Texas Stakes Her Claim to Italian Nobility (The Saturday Profile: Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi)". The New York Times. Vol. 121, no. 59353. pp. A4. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
    6. ↑ Benarde, Scott (February 9, 1986). "Rita Jennrette wants to be taken seriously". Sun Sentinel. Fort Lauderdale, FL. She points to her 1982 Drama-Logue Critics Award for her performance in a Los Angeles production of The Philadelphia Story as giving her legitimacy as an actress.
    7. ↑ Furman, Phyllis; Lentz, Philip; Willis, Gerri (April 1–7, 1996). "Power Broker, New York Style". Crain's New York Business. Archived from the original on January 2, 2007. Retrieved March 12, 2008.
    8. ↑ Grant, Peter (January 14, 1999). "Judge To Power Agent: You Lose". New York Daily News. New York. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
    9. ↑ Grant, Peter (May 6, 1999). "Macklowe's Midtown Tower May Not Rise". New York Daily News. New York.
    10. ↑ Kamen, Al (July 21, 2010). "Rita and John Jenrette, Where are they now". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
    11. 1 2 3 4 "Playboy princess Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi loses $500M home in bitter royal feud: ‘I’m palace-less and penniless’", Isabel Vincent, New York Post, May 13, 2023
    12. ↑ "Nation: Refund, Please". Time. December 1, 1980. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
    13. ↑ Bandy, Lee (March 27, 1988). "Eight Years After Abscam, Jenrette Plans A Political Comeback". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, PA. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
    14. ↑ "Rita Jennrette debuts in issue of Playboy". Eugene Register-Guard. Eugene, OR. UPI. February 21, 1981. p. 4A.
    15. ↑ ""Destination Scandal" tour of DC". The Washington Post.
    16. ↑ Tillman, Nat (August 22, 1984). "Even Miss America contestants are in the skin business". Gainesville Sun. Gainesville, FL. p. B1.
    17. ↑ Rose, Sandra (July 20, 2009). "Ancient perfumes revived to celebrate royal engagement". Basenotes. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
    18. ↑ "Villa Aurora". Retrieved August 22, 2016.
    19. ↑ Levy, Ariel (November 28, 2011). "THE RENOVATION". The New Yorker. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
    20. ↑ Hervieux, Linda (July 15, 2010). "U.S.-Born Princess Opens Historic Villa to the Public". The New York Times. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
    21. ↑ "Villa Aurora". 100 Weeks in Rome. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
    22. ↑ "Archivio Digitale Boncompagni Ludovisi". Archivio Digitale Boncompagni Ludovisi. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
    23. ↑ Angela Giuffrida, The princess and the Caravaggio: bitter dispute rages over Roman villa, The Guardian, January 14, 2022.
    24. ↑ "Texas-born Italian princess to be evicted from $533M royal villa as she battles stepchildren over inheritance", Katherine Donlevy, New York Post, April 20, 2023.
    25. ↑ Stati, Nicole Winfield and Francesco. "Texas-born Italian princess evicted from historic Roman villa with Caravaggio-painted ceiling". USA TODAY. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
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