ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

PEOPLE WATCH

Road to Recovery: “It’s fate--it’s got to mean something. Maybe it’s God giving me a message: ‘Get your life in order.’ ” So said funk singer Rick James on Tuesday, during a telephone interview from his home in Encino, where he is recuperating from a Nov. 9 stroke. James, whose speech sounded strong and clear, said he is plagued by double vision, has extreme difficulty walking and experiences some memory loss. “Whenever I try to stand up I’m like a kid, I fall over to the right side,” said James, who begins daily physical therapy today. “I want to get up out of this wheelchair and walk and play and make another album.” James, 50, said his first goal is to be walking at the Feb. 5 premiere of the Eddie Murphy film “Life,” in which James plays a gangster. He also hopes to eventually return to concert touring. “I don’t feel bad for myself at all,” said James, noting that his spirits were buoyed during his five-week hospital stay by Marvin Isley of the Isley Brothers, who was hospitalized on the same floor for diabetes complications. And if there’s a message from it all, James, who said he had finally stopped doing drugs when the stroke occurred, despite a long history of abuse, said: “Whether you’re living right or you’re living wrong, it can happen to you. So be careful.”

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Divorce Court: Actress Linda Hamilton filed for divorce Monday from “Titanic” director James Cameron, citing irreconcilable differences. The couple were married in June 1997 and were together for Cameron’s triumph at the Academy Awards in March, although talk of their split began soon after. They have a 5-year-old daughter, Josephine, for whom Hamilton is seeking custody. Hamilton starred in Cameron’s “Terminator” films; meanwhile, the Hollywood trade papers reported Tuesday that Cameron and “Terminator” star Arnold Schwarzenegger are in early talks about a third installment of the series.

ART

Getty Appointment: Timothy P. Whalen, an administrator of the J. Paul Getty Trust since 1981, has been appointed director of the Getty Conservation Institute. He will succeed Miguel Angel Corzo, who resigned in late November. During his 18-year tenure at the Getty, Whalen has been an administrator at the museum and the Research Institute, and was a coordinator of early plans for the Getty Center in Brentwood. Since 1991 he has been in charge of conservation grant-making activities for the Getty Grant Program, supervising international projects as well as the Getty’s conservation grants in Los Angeles.

TV & RADIO

Changing of the Guard: Tom Snyder’s final broadcast on “The Late Late Show” will air March 26, with new host Craig Kilborn (“The Daily Show”) taking over the program on March 30, CBS said Tuesday. Snyder, who announced his plan to step down from the program in April, will have done more than 850 “Late Late Shows.” Meanwhile, the program’s studio at CBS’ Television City will be redesigned to make room for a small audience.

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Anti-Semitism Charged: David Lehrer, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League in Los Angeles, has written to KFI-AM (640) and its general manager Howard Neal seeking an apology for Saturday’s “Scott & Casey” show, during which Lehrer says co-hosts Scott Hasick and Casey Bartholomew “invoked many anti-Semitic stereotypes with reckless abandon.” The talk show, which aired the day before Hanukkah began, included “at least 40 minutes of the most inflammatory anti-Semitism and idiocy one could ever have imagined,” says Lehrer, who reported that the ADL’s phone lines were flooded with complaints. KFI officials said they were reviewing the show and would comment later.

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Schlessinger Drops Lawsuit: Radio host Dr. Laura Schlessinger has dropped her lawsuit against a company that posted 12 nude photos of her on its Web site. Last month, a federal judge refused Schlessinger’s request for an injunction barring Internet Entertainment Group from posting the photos, saying they had already been “splattered” over cyberspace.