Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation's press. - Los Angeles Times
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Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.

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TV & MOVIES

Rat Pack Concert: The cable network TV Land will air the only known recorded concert featuring legendary Rat Pack performers Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. as a 90-minute special on April 20 at 8 p.m. “Frank, Dean and Sammy: An Evening With the Rat Pack,†emceed by Johnny Carson, was shot in 1965 at the height of the performers’ success (Carson was a last-minute replacement for Joey Bishop, who was recovering from a back injury). The concert, a benefit for a halfway house in St. Louis, aired at the time via closed-circuit in several movie theaters nationwide. The footage resurfaced last year, when it was screened at the Museum of Television & Radio in Beverly Hills.

Telling Tiger’s Story: Cable’s Showtime begins principal photography in San Diego today on “The Tiger Woods Story.†The movie, chronicling Woods’ rise to the top of the golf world, will air in April in conjunction with the Masters golf tournament. Khalil Kain (“love jonesâ€) plays the title role; LeVar Burton directs.

Williamson Pleads Innocent: Actor Mykelti Williamson, best known for playing Tom Hanks’ Army buddy in “Forrest Gump,†pleaded innocent Tuesday to charges of stabbing his ex-wife’s boyfriend. Williamson, 40, was charged Jan. 15 with one count of attempted murder and one count of assault with a deadly weapon for the Jan. 5 attack. His alleged victim, Leroy Edwards, remains hospitalized, according to prosecutors.

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POP/ROCK

Polar Prizes: Ray Charles and Ravi Shankar were honored Tuesday with Polar prizes from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. Each will receive $125,000, presented by King Carl XVI Gustaf on May 12. Charles, 67, was honored for influencing generations of singers and musicians, while Shankar, 77, was commended for bringing Eastern music to Western audiences (Shankar taught former Beatle George Harrison how to play the sitar). The annual prize was endowed by Stikkan Anderson, whose Polar Record Co. released ABBA’s hits. He died in September.

CLASSICAL MUSIC

Babies and Beethoven: Democratic Georgia Gov. Zell Miller wants his state’s newborns to listen to soothing classical music--a move he hopes will boost baby brain power. So he’s working with Atlanta Symphony conductor Yoel Levi to come up with songs for a planned state-funded CD that would be given to all new parents--some 100,000 each year. Miller, who proposed last week that the state legislature allocate $105,000 to pay for the CD--which would include selections such as Beethoven’s “Ode to Joyâ€--plans to return to the classroom as a college professor when his term ends this year. He said he got the idea for the CD from a seminar on early childhood education touting the benefits of music in making babies smarter.

QUICK TAKES

French actress-turned-animal-rights-activist Brigitte Bardot was fined $3,300 Tuesday for slander and inciting racial hatred for condemning in a newspaper an annual Muslim practice involving the sacrifice of sheep. Bardot was also ordered to pay a symbolic franc--15 cents--to three human rights organizations that sued her over the remarks. . . . The Recording Academy of Arts and Sciences plans to produce a television series featuring 50 hourlong biographies of previous Grammy winners and nominees. Called “Grammy Profiles,†the series is slated to begin production this spring. . . . Fox has ordered a new pilot created by film director Wes Craven (“Scream,†“Nightmare on Elm Streetâ€) and TV producer Shaun Cassidy (“American Gothicâ€) called “Hollyweird.†The series--about two twentysomethings who host a cable TV show about bizarre crimes in Los Angeles--is targeted for next season. . . . Former “Dallas†star Linda Gray has been named a U.N. goodwill ambassador to promote women’s rights. As part of her duties, she will appear in U.N. films highlighting problems facing women in developing countries, including female circumcision and lack of access to contraception and abortion. . . . Willow Bay, co-anchor of ABC’s “Good Morning America’s†Sunday edition, will leave to fulfill a similar role on “CNNewstand: Entertainment Weekly,†a new weekly prime-time program based on the magazine. Several ABC News reporters have recently left the network for CNN, but Bay is particularly notable in that she’s married to Robert Iger, president of ABC Inc. . . . A Feb. 17 Santa Monica Superior Court trial date has been set for Jonathan F. Norman, the man accused of stalking director Steven Spielberg because he was sexually obsessed with him. . . . Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner, 71, and his wife, Kimberly Conrad Hefner, 34, have separated, citing “differing interests.†The couple wed in 1989. . . . The singing Hanson brothers--Zac, 12; Taylor, 14 and Isaac, 17--have a new baby sister, born Jan. 14 in Tulsa, Okla. The teen group’s management couldn’t confirm the baby’s name, but fan Web sites said it’s Zoe Genevieve Hanson.

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