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

POP/ROCK

Tour Delayed ‘Out of Respect’: Rap star Snoop Doggy Dogg has delayed the start of a two-month U.S. concert tour in the wake of the fatal shooting in Los Angeles Sunday of fellow rapper Notorious B.I.G. “He’s upset about the loss of his friend,” said a spokesman for Snoop’s distributor, Death Row Records. “He wanted to hold off for a week or two out of respect and mourning.” The tour, which was to kick off March 21 in Winston-Salem, N.C., will now start next month, said Bill Wyatt of All Day-Air Day Entertainment in Los Angeles, which is booking the tour. Wyatt added that in light of Notorious B.I.G.’s slaying and the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur last September, security will be beefed up for the Snoop tour, which is scheduled to include a May 4 stop at the Pond of Anaheim. . . . Due in stores April 22 is “Stop the Gunfight,” a compilation rap album including tracks recorded as up-and-comers four years ago by both of the slain rappers. A portion of proceeds from the Deff Trapp Jam Records album will go to a gun buyback program run by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. . . . Meanwhile, several rap artists, including Wyclef of the Fugees, will discuss the recent deaths and efforts to stop violence within the rap community on “MTV News Presents: State of Rap Roundtable” on Sunday at 10:30 p.m. Also on MTV, rapper DJ Kool will replace Notorious B.I.G. in the latter’s scheduled spot on the station’s “Spring Break” programming, March 21-23.

MOVIES

Internet Debut of Burton Film: A long-lost film capturing the late Richard Burton’s 1964 Tony-winning Broadway performance of “Hamlet” will premiere on the Internet next month. The three-hour tape, recently found by the actor’s widow in some rusting cans at the couple’s home in Switzerland, was shown in theaters for only two days after it was made because Burton believed “Hamlet” was best experienced on stage. The movie, which has been digitally restored, will air April 6-10 on the Alternative Entertainment Network at https://www.aentv.com/home/chspecial.htm. Viewers must log on to the site in advance to make reservations for viewing.

Producers Pick ‘English Patient’: Oscar nominee “The English Patient,” whose Anthony Minghella won the Directors Guild Award last weekend, has also earned the Producers Guild of America’s endorsement. The film’s Saul Zaentz picked up double honors at the group’s 1997 Golden Laurel Awards at the Universal Hilton Wednesday night: the Darryl F. Zanuck Theatrical Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award and the Kodak Vision Award.

TELEVISION

Remembering When: ABC will air vintage episodes of its long-running daytime soaps “All My Children,” “One Life to Live” and “General Hospital” at 11 a.m. weekdays from March 31 through May 30, replacing the canceled serial “The City.” Among the now well-known actors featured in the old episodes are Lauren Holly and Kim Delany, who got their starts on “All My Children”; Judith Light, who began on “One Life to Live”; and Demi Moore, Janine Turner, John Stamos and Richard Dean Anderson, who all played on “General Hospital.” ABC’s new soap, “GH2,” begins airing in the slot on June 2.

People Power: Representatives from cable’s Lifetime Television went to Capitol Hill Thursday to deliver 17,000 signatures gathered through the network’s online petition for federal laws requiring 48-hour hospital stays following major breast surgery. The petition against so-called “drive through” mastectomies was presented to Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D.-Conn.), author of the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act, which is awaiting congressional approval.

THE ARTS

The Hoax Is on Them: On the heels of a revelation that an acclaimed male Aboriginal artist was actually the invention of a rich, elderly white woman, a white man admitted Thursday that he also made up an award-winning supposed autobiography of an Aboriginal woman. Australia’s literary establishment was embarrassed and angered by Thursday’s revelation that the critically hailed “My Own Sweet Time”--believed to be the autobiography of Wanda Koolmatrine--was written by Leon Carmen, a 47-year-old Sydney resident. In revealing the hoax, Carmen said that he was forced to write under the name and identity of Koolmatrine because politically correct publishers and awards judges in Australia discriminate against white men. Last Friday, Australian gallery owners and museum curators learned that paintings supposedly done by acclaimed Aboriginal painter Eddie Burrup were really the work of Elizabeth Durack, 82.

QUICK TAKES

Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas said Thursday that he planned to make a new comedy called “Male Pattern Baldness,” about a man trying to make sense of his life. Eszterhas said Betty Thomas (“Private Parts”) was on board to direct the film, scheduled to start shooting in Cleveland in January. . . . E! Entertainment Television will air “Macaulay Culkin: A Child’s Rise/A Family’s Fall” on Sunday at 5 p.m. It is a one-hour docudrama about the former “Home Alone” star whose parents are currently waging a highly publicized custody battle.