TELEVISIONHagman Has Cancer: Larry Hagman, who became...

TELEVISION

Hagman Has Cancer: Larry Hagman, who became a TV legend as scheming oilman J.R. Ewing in the long-running series “Dallas,” has a cancerous tumor on his liver and will need a transplant, his publicist said Wednesday. In late June, Hagman disclosed that doctors had detected a small tumor. Publicist Richard Grant said tests showed it was malignant. The discovery complicates Hagman’s earlier diagnosis of cirrhosis of the liver, which he developed three years ago, and the 63-year-old actor has been put on a national waiting list for a donor liver, Grant said. “In spite of this latest development, Hagman remains in excellent health and spirits, and his prognosis for a full recovery and long life is excellent,” Grant said, citing the opinion of Hagman’s medical team. Hagman recently finished filming a role as a Texas oilman in Oliver Stone’s upcoming biographical movie “Nixon.”

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Carvey Ready for Prime Time: Dana Carvey will star in a sketch comedy series for ABC that will mix some of his classic “Saturday Night Live” characters, such as Church Lady, with new characters, the network said Wednesday. Carvey will also be one of the executive producers for the midseason show, which ABC Entertainment President Ted Harbert described as a topical comedy program in which Carvey will utilize his impressions of Ross Perot, former President Bush and others.

MOVIES

Hurley Watch: Actress Elizabeth Hurley--Hugh Grant’s longtime girlfriend and the “new face” of Estee Lauder cosmetics--is “in final negotiations” with Jacaranda Films to star in an untitled action-adventure movie to be shot in South Africa, said a spokesman for New Line Cinema, which will distribute the movie. Hurley would portray a woman who meets a character, played by rapper-actor Ice Cube, who is a native South African raised in L.A. who returns home to search for a brother. Through Hurley’s character, the film will show the changes in South Africa’s white culture since the end of apartheid.

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Silverman Deal: Veteran TV producer Fred Silverman is segueing to movies. With plans to develop three to five movies a year, the former network chief hired Laurette Hayden, former vice president of HBO Pictures to be executive vice president, motion pictures, of the Fred Silverman Co.

STAGE

New Role for Louganis: Former Olympic diving gold medalist Greg Louganis is trying center stage again. He will star Off Broadway in “The Only Thing Worse You Could Have Told Me . . .,” a one-man show about contemporary gay life, beginning Aug. 8 at the Actors’ Playhouse. Louganis will replace the play’s current star and author Dan Butler, who is leaving the show to resume filming the NBC sitcom “Frasier,” in which Butler plays macho sportscaster Bulldog Briscoe.

POP/ROCK

Jackson Slide: Michael Jackson’s “HIStory--Past, Present and Future Book 1” slipped again in its fourth week of release, dropping to the No. 4 slot in sales reported by SoundScan. Jackson’s two-disc set of greatest hits and new material sold 105,000 copies last week, down from its No. 2 spot the previous week. Hootie & the Blowfish’s “Cracked Rear View” returns to the No. 1 post with 144,000 sold, jumping over last week’s leader, the “Pocahontas” soundtrack. TLC’s “CrazySexyCool” is No. 3. Impressive jumps were made by both Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill” (from No. 30 to No. 14), and Seal’s year-old release “Seal” (No. 50 to No. 32), the latter reinvigorated by the single “Kiss From a Rose,” which is also featured on the “Batman Forever” soundtrack, rated No. 5.

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More on Jackson: The relationship between Michael Jackson and ABC continues July 28 when the network will broadcast a half-hour special at 9:30 p.m. titled “Michael Jackson Changes HIStory.” The program will include the premiere of Jackson’s new video, “You Are Not Alone,” as well as a compilation of his greatest hits and a segment showing Jackson changing the lyrics of “They Don’t Care About You,” which contains language that Jackson acknowledged could be interpreted as anti-Semitic. The special will be simulcast by ABC, MTV and BET. ABC Entertainment President Ted Harbert said the program had no connection to the “PrimeTime Live” interview with Jackson on June 14 and denied the accusation that the network was shilling for the entertainer. “This is good entertainment that works for our purposes,” he said. “The guy just happens to be news.”

PEOPLE WATCH

Quitsville: It’s over for Bianca Jagger and Rep. Bob Torricelli (D-N.J.) after a two-year romance. The congressman and the former wife of Mick Jagger blamed their breakup on busy schedules and separate homes. “Bianca Jagger has been an extremely important part of Bob Torricelli’s life during the past two years,” said Torricelli’s chief of staff. “Unfortunately, with homes in three different cities and individual time-consuming political commitments, they were kept apart for significant periods of time,” Fox said. Torricelli and Jagger shared an interest in human rights and Latin America.