Rita Jenrette, born
Rita Carpenter, November 25, 1949 in
San Antonio, TexasSan Antonio is the second-largest city in the state of Texas and the seventh-largest city in the United States. The city is characteristic of other Southwest urban centers in which there are sparsely populated areas and a low density rate outside of the city. It was the fourth-fastest growing...
is an American celebrity, actor, television journalist, and real estate executive. She is most famous for the interview she gave about her marriage to disgraced
U.S. RepresentativeThe United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress, the upper house being the United States Senate. The composition and powers of the House and the Senate are established in Article One of the Constitution...
John JenretteJohn Wilson Jenrette, Jr. is a former American politician from the Democratic Party. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from January 1975 until December 1980. He was convicted of accepting a bribe in the FBI's Abscam operation....
following his
convictionIn law, a conviction is the verdict that results when a court of law finds a defendant guilty of a crime.The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal...
in the
AbscamAbscam was a United States Federal Bureau of Investigation sting operation run from the FBI's Hauppauge, Long Island, office in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
scandal and her accompanying semi-nude pictorial in
PlayboyPlayboy is an American men's magazine, founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with a presence in nearly every medium. Playboy is one of the world's best...
magazine.
Jenrette earned her bachelor's degree,
cum laude, from the University of Texas in 1971.
In 1973, she became the director of research for the
Republican Party of TexasThe Republican Party of Texas is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Texas. Tina J. Benkiser has been chairman of the party since 2003. Dr. Robin Armstrong was elected Vice Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas in June 2006...
.
Rita Jenrette, born
Rita Carpenter, November 25, 1949 in
San Antonio, TexasSan Antonio is the second-largest city in the state of Texas and the seventh-largest city in the United States. The city is characteristic of other Southwest urban centers in which there are sparsely populated areas and a low density rate outside of the city. It was the fourth-fastest growing...
is an American celebrity, actor, television journalist, and real estate executive. She is most famous for the interview she gave about her marriage to disgraced
U.S. RepresentativeThe United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress, the upper house being the United States Senate. The composition and powers of the House and the Senate are established in Article One of the Constitution...
John JenretteJohn Wilson Jenrette, Jr. is a former American politician from the Democratic Party. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from January 1975 until December 1980. He was convicted of accepting a bribe in the FBI's Abscam operation....
following his
convictionIn law, a conviction is the verdict that results when a court of law finds a defendant guilty of a crime.The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal...
in the
AbscamAbscam was a United States Federal Bureau of Investigation sting operation run from the FBI's Hauppauge, Long Island, office in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
scandal and her accompanying semi-nude pictorial in
PlayboyPlayboy is an American men's magazine, founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with a presence in nearly every medium. Playboy is one of the world's best...
magazine.
Early career
Jenrette earned her bachelor's degree,
cum laude, from the University of Texas in 1971.
In 1973, she became the director of research for the
Republican Party of TexasThe Republican Party of Texas is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Texas. Tina J. Benkiser has been chairman of the party since 2003. Dr. Robin Armstrong was elected Vice Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas in June 2006...
. In 1974, Jenrette was a visiting lecturer at the Taft Political Institute at
Trinity UniversityTrinity University is a private, independent, primarily undergraduate, university in San Antonio, Texas.-History:Trinity was founded in 1869 by Cumberland Presbyterians in Tehuacana, Texas. The school was formed from the remnants of three small Cumberland Presbyterian colleges that had failed...
. In 1975, she was
Opposition Research"Opposition Research" is episode 121 of The West Wing.-Plot:Candidate Matt Santos starts up his presidential campaign in New Hampshire, where he and Josh immediately disagree on campaign philosophy. Santos is keen to expound his policy on education, but Josh wants to go slower, and let the voters...
Director of the
Republican National CommitteeThe Republican National Committee provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is also responsible for organizing and...
, under the chairmanship of
Mary Louise SmithMary Louise Smith , a U.S. political organizer and women's rights activist, was the second woman to become chairman of a major political party in the United States....
.
In 1977, Jenrette worked as a research associate at the
Office of Technology AssessmentThe Office of Technology Assessment was an office of the United States Congress from 1972 to 1995. OTA's purpose was to provide Congressional members and committees with objective and authoritative analysis of the complex scientific and technical issues of the late 20th century...
under the co-chairmanship of
SenatorThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
s Hubert H. Humphrey and Edward M. Kennedy. She co-authored a report, with Ray Hoehle, on the
Food for PeacePublic Law 480 also known as Food for Peace is a funding avenue by which US food can be used for overseas aid....
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.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
. On 10 September 1976, she married freshman
DemocraticThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
WhipThe whip is a role in party politics whose primary purpose is to ensure control of the formal decision-making process in a parliamentary legislature. Whips are party 'enforcers', who typically offer both inducements and punishments to party members...
John JenretteJohn Wilson Jenrette, Jr. is a former American politician from the Democratic Party. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from January 1975 until December 1980. He was convicted of accepting a bribe in the FBI's Abscam operation....
of
South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a U.S. state that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was...
, eighteen months after meeting him on Capitol Hill.
She was also a
ClairolClairol is a personal care products division of Procter & Gamble. The Clairol company was started in 1931 by an entrepreneurial chemist and his wife who named their enterprise after a hair-coloring preparation they found while traveling in France....
model.
Scandal
Her husband, John, was convicted for taking a bribe during the
AbscamAbscam was a United States Federal Bureau of Investigation sting operation run from the FBI's Hauppauge, Long Island, office in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
investigation in October 1980. 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.
She gave an interview to
Playboy that appeared in the April 1981 issue, accompanied by a nude pictorial. The article's revelation that she and her husband made love 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 pictorial was photographed., although they had separated by the time it was published.
The comedy group "
Capitol StepsThe Capitol Steps is an American political satire group. It has been performing since 1981, and has released approximately thirty albums consisting primarily of song parodies. Originally consisting exclusively of Congressional staffers performing around Washington, D.C., the troupe now primarily...
" takes its name from this escapade.
Jenrette again appeared in Playboy in the May 1984 issue on the cover and in a pictorial..
Acting and writing career
She separated from her husband in January 1981 and they were divorced shortly thereafter. She has written two published books, one called
My Capitol Secrets in 1981 that detailed her experiences as a Congressional spouse, and "Conglomerate", published in 1986.
In 1982, Jenrette received the Drama Logue Critics Award for her performance in
The Philadelphia StoryThe Philadelphia Story is a romantic comedy film directed by George Cukor, starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and James Stewart. Based on a Broadway play of the same name by Philip Barry, with screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart and an uncredited Waldo Salt, the film is about a socialite whose...
. She also appeared in several movies and television shows in the mid-1980s.
In 1989, Jenrette became an on-air journalist on Fox television’s
A Current Affair on which she interviewed celebrities.
Real estate career
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." In 1999, she sued Simon Properties for six million U.S. dollars for failing to pay her a commission on the $800 million sale of the
General Motors BuildingThe General Motors Building is a 50-story, 705-foot office tower in Manhattan, New York City, facing Fifth Avenue at 59th Street . The building is one of the few structures in Manhattan that occupies a full city block. The building size is 1,905,103 rentable square feet on a plot measuring 200 x...
to
Donald TrumpDonald John Trump is an American business magnate, socialite, author and television personality. He is the Chairman and CEO of the Trump Organization, a US-based real-estate developer. Trump is also the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts, which operates numerous casinos and hotels across the...
; after losing her claim at trial, she settled her claim for what was reported as a substantially lower payment. . In 2003, she completed her her MBA at
Harvard Business SchoolHarvard Business School is a graduate business school in Boston, Massachusetts. The school offers a full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, as well as many . The School owns Harvard Business School Publishing, which publishes business books, online management tools for corporate learning, case...
.
Second marriage
On May 27, 2009, Jenrette married Prince Nicolò Boncompagni
LudovisiThe Ludovisi were a noble Italian family, originating from Bologna.Famous members of the family were - among others - Cardinal Alessandro Ludovisi, who became Pope with the name of Gregory XV, and his nephew, Ludovico Ludovisi, also cardinal. The Ludovisi were also rulers of the Principality of...
of
PiombinoPiombino is a town and commune in the province of Livorno , Italy, on the border between the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea, in front of Elba Island and at the northern side of Maremma....
, an Italian principality dissolved under the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte. To commemorate the marriage, Ludovisi commissioned the recreation of a fragrance originally devised for one of his royal ancestors, and offered it for sale through his website
Filmography
Jenrette appeared in the following films and television shows:
- The Edge of Night
The Edge of Night was a long-running American television mystery series/soap opera produced by Procter & Gamble. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran on that network until November 28, 1975; the series then moved to ABC, where it aired from December 1, 1975, until December 28, 1984...
(1981)
- Fantasy Island
This article is about the television series. For the amusement park, see Martin's Fantasy Island or Fantasy Island UKFantasy Island is the title of two separate but related American fantasy television series, both originally airing on the ABC television network.-Original series:Before it became a...
(1982)
- Zombie Island Massacre
Zombie Island Massacre is a 1984 horror film directed by John N. Carter and starring famed congressman's wife and Playboy model, Rita Jenrette...
(1984)
- The Malibu Bikini Shop (1986)
- End of the Line (1987)
- Dream On
Dream On is an American adult situation comedy about Martin Tupper, a dreamer whose life is full of colorful characters. It ran for six seasons between 1990 and 1996.- Description :...
(1992)
She also acted on stage as well:
- The Philadelphia Story
The Philadelphia Story is a romantic comedy film directed by George Cukor, starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and James Stewart. Based on a Broadway play of the same name by Philip Barry, with screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart and an uncredited Waldo Salt, the film is about a socialite whose...
(1982) - won the L.A. Drama-Logue Critics AwardThe Drama-Logue Award was a theatre award established in 1977, given by the publishers of Drama-Logue newspaper, a weekly west-coast theatre trade publication. Winners were selected by the publication's theatre critics, and would receive a certificate at an annual awards ceremony...
- A Girl's Guide to Chaos (1987)