It’s an Encore for Comedienne

Comedienne RITA RUDNER, who will be among the headliners Saturday in “Comic Relief V” on HBO, and her husband, English comedy producer Martin Bergman, have purchased a house in the Beverly Hills Post Office area for $2.25 million.

Rudner, known for her several cable comedy specials and frequent “Tonight Show” appearances, stars in her first movie, “Peter’s Friends,” expected to be released this fall. Rudner co-wrote the screenplay with her husband and co-stars with Kenneth Branagh, who is also director of the film.

Her first book, “Naked Beneath My Clothes,” will be published in June by Viking Penguin. The Miami-born Rudner, 36, left home at age 15 to dance on Broadway. She appeared in “Annie,” “Mack and Mabel” and “Follies” before turning to stand-up comedy.

Her A&E; Network specials of June, 1991, earned two ACE (Award for Cable Excellence) nominations, and her HBO special “Born to Be Mild” was voted Best Comedy Special in the 1991 Cable Guide readers’ poll.

She and her husband bought a four-bedroom, 7,600-square-foot Mediterranean-style home with a pool and pool house in a private, gated section of the Beverly Hills Post Office area. The home has canyon and city light views.

It was built about a year ago and was leased out for a short time. The seller was John Levin, an emergency-room doctor who has constructed several houses to sell during the past six years.

Rudner’s former home has been put on the market at $725,000. The three-bedroom, 2,500-square-foot house, which is also in the Beverly Hills Post Office area, was built in 1989 on the site of a 1920 hunting lodge, which was razed except for a wall and high-pitched ceiling.

The modern-style house, on Benedict Canyon, is listed by Lauren Weinstein at Coldwell Banker, who also represented both parties in the sale.

Football tailback ERIC DICKERSON, the former Ram who agreed to have his pay cut in half so that he could leave the Indianapolis Colts and return to Los Angeles to play for the Raiders, has put his Calabasas home on the market at $2.7 million.

Dickerson plans to sell the traditional-style house and buy a Mediterranean somewhere in the Los Angeles area, according to listing broker, Barbara Robinson of Prudential Rodeo Realty, Beverly Hills.

His home has five bedrooms and maid’s quarters in three levels and about 8,000 square feet. It sits on a 2-acre knoll behind gates.

Dickerson, one of the NFL’s top running backs, was due to earn $2.2 million with the Colts next season. He went with the Raiders for an estimated $1.1 million plus probable incentives.

CLINT EASTWOOD, perhaps best known for playing San Francisco detective Dirty Harry in a series of films, has purchased a Hollywood Hills home for his 23-year-old son, Kyle, who is a musician.

The nearly 62-year-old actor, who lives in Bel-Air, paid slightly more than $1 million for the Mediterranean-style villa in Hollywood.

The house has five bedrooms plus maid’s quarters and a large music room in 4,500 square feet. The second floor is occupied solely by the master suite, which has canyon and city views. The 12-year-old house is being totally redecorated, sources say.

Russ Alexander of RE/MAX Estate Properties, Beverly Hills, represented Eastwood but was unavailable for comment.

JAMES CAMERON--who wrote, directed and produced last year’s top-grossing movie,”Terminator 2: Judgment Day”--has purchased a Malibu home for close to the asking price of $3.5 million.

In one of the biggest mega-deals in Hollywood history, Cameron and 20th Century Fox signed an agreement in April said to be valued at about $500 million. It calls for Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment to deliver 12 pictures to Fox over five years.

Built in 1983, Cameron’s Malibu home has six bedrooms, eight baths and a guest house in about 8,000 square feet.

ERIC ROBERTS, who played the brutal Greek-American gangster married to the character played by Kim Basinger in the psychological thriller “Final Analysis,” has leased a Hollywood Hills house owned by Dean Torrence, of the pop group Jan & Dean.

Roberts, who also appeared on CBS in February as an elusive rape suspect in the TV movie “Fugitive Among Us,” leased the three-bedroom home with a drawbridge for about $3,000 a month. The house was built in the 1930s and was the residence of actor Humphrey Bogart from 1938 to 1940.

Roberts, brother of actress Julia Roberts, also owns a home on the Hudson in Rhinecliff, N.Y.

Rose Ware and Howard Rubenstein of Fred Sands’ Hollywood Hills office handled the lease.