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

TELEVISION

Adieu, ‘Martin’: Actor Martin Lawrence, who has been embroiled in a stream of recent personal troubles, is bidding farewell to his Fox comedy series, “Martin.” The show, produced by HBO Independent Productions, will end its run with a one-hour finale on May 1. “After five years with the series, I feel it’s time to move on,” Lawrence said in a statement. “I want to thank the people at Fox and HBO for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime with ‘Martin.’ Right now, I’m going to take some time off for myself and then concentrate all my efforts on my film career.” Lawrence was arrested two weeks ago for allegedly hitting a man at a nightclub. Other recent difficulties have included a lawsuit by “Martin” co-star Tisha Campbell, who left the show late last year after accusing Lawrence of sexually harassing and terrorizing her on the set. HBO sued Campbell for breach of contract, and after sensitive negotiations, the legal actions were dropped and Campbell returned to the show. However, sources say Campbell has her own security on the set, and has refused to rehearse lines with Lawrence. Meanwhile, Lawrence’s next movie, “Nothing to Lose” co-starring Tim Robbins, is scheduled to open July 16.

‘Freeing Experience’: Ellen DeGeneres, whose character on “Ellen” will “come out” as a lesbian on the April 30 episode, told Time magazine in its April 14 cover story that she is, indeed, a lesbian in real life. DeGeneres has been mum about her own sexuality--even as she quipped about her character’s being “Lebanese.” Her network, ABC, deliberated at length before declaring that her TV character would declare herself. “When I decided to have my character on the show come out, I knew I was going to have to come out, too,” DeGeneres, 39, said in Time’s story. “But I didn’t want to talk about it until the show was done. I never wanted to be ‘the lesbian actress.’ I never wanted to be the spokesperson for the gay community. Ever. I did it for my own truth.” DeGeneres told Time that she stopped dating men at age 20 and is now involved with a new relationship “that appears to be something I want to last forever.” She called the public admission of her sexuality “the most freeing experience.”

PEOPLE WATCH

Saying Goodbye to Ginsberg: Several hundred mourners--sitting shoeless on the floor before a shrine of candles, fruit and flowers--gathered at a New York Buddhist meditation center Monday to remember Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, who died of a heart attack on Saturday, just days after being diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. Among the mourners--who chanted in English and Tibetan, burned incense, meditated and struck gongs--were punk songstress Patti Smith and activist poet Amiri Baraka. Ginsberg’s 70-year-old body lay in a coffin draped with a yellow, red and white silk flag bearing the image of the sun, a symbol of the Buddhist Shambhala community. The service also included a reading of the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, in Hebrew. Ginsberg’s remains were to be cremated.

CLASSICAL MUSIC

Schoenberg Plans: Heirs of composer Arnold Schoenberg revealed details Monday of their decision to make Vienna’s Palais Fanto the new home for the Schoenberg collection and archives. The collection, currently housed at USC’s Schoenberg Institute, has been the subject of a protracted legal battle over its use. The composer’s son Lawrence said that the Austrian government will provide $3 million in 1997 to start up the Arnold Schoenberg Center in its first year, with $1.5 million promised each subsequent year; USC budgeted $300,000 a year for maintaining the collection. The center has appointed Christian Meyer, 34, former marketing director of the Vienna Konzerthuas, and Prof. Elsa Prochazka as the architects to design space for the center in the existing Palais Fanto.

RADIO

Central American Outlet: Los Angeles’ Central American community got a new radio station Monday night when KVCA-AM (670)--previously KWNK, a sports station--formally became “Radio Centro America” with a lineup of music, news and sports. The station began Spanish programming on April 1 but didn’t get live announcers and news until 6:15 p.m. Monday. The station said it will target Southern California’s approximately 1 million Central American residents, primarily from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

QUICK TAKES

Oasis singer Liam Gallagher and actress Patsy Kensit--who canceled a planned wedding two months ago because of “obsessive and intrusive” media interest--were wed in London on Monday in a secret civil ceremony with just the registrar watching. It is the first marriage for Gallagher, 24, and the third for Kensit, 29, whose previous husbands were also musicians--Jim Kerr of Simple Minds and Dan Donovan of Big Audio Dynamite. . . . The pop group U2 has recorded its own version of the Beatles’ “Happiness Is a Warm Gun” as the theme song for ABC’s new Robert Altman anthology series, “Gun.” The series premieres April 12 in the Saturday, 10 p.m., time slot. . . . Elizabeth Taylor’s divorce from Larry Fortensky has been settled, with the parties reaching “an amicable agreement” on all claims, Taylor’s attorney announced Monday. Terms were not disclosed. . . . Sylvester Stallone plans to marry model Jennifer Flavin, the mother of his 7-month-old daughter, in the next several months in an exotic location, the actor’s publicist said Monday.