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

THE ARTS

Kennedy Center Honorees: Singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder, actors Sean Connery and Jason Robards, dancer-choreographer Judith Jamison and comedian-pianist Victor Borge were named Tuesday as recipients of the 1999 Kennedy Center Honors. The awards, given annually for “the unique and extremely valuable contributions [the recipients] have made to the cultural life of our nation,” will be bestowed in Washington Dec. 4 during a State Department dinner hosted by Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright. The following evening, the honorees will be feted at a gala performance at the Kennedy Center to be attended by President and Mrs. Clinton and broadcast on CBS in December. Among the honorees, both Robards and Jamison noted special ties to the Kennedy Center: Robards, 77, told The Times that he participated in the performing arts house’s 1964 groundbreaking ceremony and also performed in “The Country Girl,” its second show. And Jamison, 56, who follows in the footsteps of her mentor, Alvin Ailey (a 1988 Kennedy Center honoree), noted that Ailey’s company performed at the Kennedy Center’s opening gala in 1971. In announcing the honorees, Kennedy Center Chairman James A. Johnson described Jamison as “one of the nation’s most individualistic and beloved dance artists” and called Robards “an actor who for half a century has been one of the leading lights of the American theater.” In addition, he lauded Wonder, 49, as “a musical genius who has been an integral part of American popular culture for the past four decades”; praised Borge, 90, as “a beloved entertainer who has created his very own art form out of laughter and music”; and heralded Connery, 69, as “a living icon whose charm and talent has enthralled moviegoers for decades.”

POP/ROCK

Cop Sues George Michael: The Beverly Hills police officer who arrested George Michael for allegedly committing a lewd act in a public-park restroom is suing the singer for $10 million, claiming that Michael slandered him in interviews and mocked him in a music video. Marcelo Rodriguez, who arrested Michael in April 1998, contends in his suit that he has suffered “humiliation, mental anguish and emotional and physical distress” as a result of Michael saying in interviews that the officer was “waving his genitals in front of [Michael] and was guilty of entrapment.” In addition to $10 million in punitive damages, Rodriguez is seeking to have Michael pay his medical and legal expenses. Michael pleaded no contest to the lewd-conduct charge and was sentenced to community service and sexual counseling. The singer’s agent and manager could not be reached for comment on the suit.

Nash Hospitalized: Singer Graham Nash, 57, was expected to remain hospitalized in Lihue, Hawaii, for a few days after breaking both legs in a boating accident off Kauai’s south shore. The Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young member was boating with his wife and several friends on Sunday when the power watercraft hit a wave, tossing Nash into the air and causing the injury when he landed back in the boat. Nash underwent surgery Sunday night and is expected to require a wheelchair for a couple of months while undergoing physical therapy.

TV & MOVIES

Fergie Joins ‘Today’: As expected, England’s Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, is joining NBC’s “Today” show as a special correspondent. In an announcement Tuesday, the network said Ferguson will contribute human interest stories, in-depth interviews and feature reports. She’ll be based in London but is expected to file stories from around the world.

‘Short’ Stuff: “The Martin Short Show” got off to a mediocre start with its premiere Monday, finishing last in its 11 p.m. time slot among the seven VHF stations in Los Angeles, attracting about 90,000 homes, or less than 2% of those in the viewing area. In New York, airing at 4 p.m., Short drew less than a third of the audience watching his top-rated competitor, “Judge Judy.”

Values and the Media: Representatives from the National Education Assn., the Parent Teachers Assn. and several major networks and production companies will convene in Burbank today for “The Children’s Media Summit: Developing Guidelines for Creative Professionals,” an effort to assess “what kind of values the children’s media should be instilling in our children.” Sponsored by children’s TV producer DIC Entertainment and by the nonprofit watchdog group Mediascope, the summit aims to update voluntary guidelines established in 1994 for the production of children’s programming. Organizers said the two-day summit was convened in direct response to governmental criticism of violent and gratuitous content in the media and its influence on children.

QUICK TAKES

HBO will repeat “John Leguizamo’s Freak,” which won the Emmy Sunday for best performance in a variety or music program, tonight at 9. The cable channel will also repeat “A Lesson Before Dying,” which won two Emmys including best TV movie, on Thursday at 8 p.m. . . . KCET will air the television premiere of Wim Wenders’ documentary “Buena Vista Social Club” on Nov. 3 at 6 p.m. . . . Film star Aidan Quinn (“This Is My Father”) will play Paul McCartney, while John Lennon will be depicted by Jared Harris (Andy Warhol in “I Shot Andy Warhol”) in VH1’s upcoming movie “Two of Us,” which details a fictional meeting between the two former Beatles six years after the band’s breakup. . . . MTV Books will release “The Rose That Grew From Concrete,” a collection of poems written by the late rap star Tupac Shakur, in November. The book will reproduce the never-before-published poems--written when Shakur was 19--in his own handwriting. . . . Oasis singer Liam Gallagher’s wife, actress Patsy Kensit, gave birth to the couple’s first child, son Lennon Francis Gallagher, in London Monday night. . . . Former MTV personality Jenny McCarthy, 26, married director John Asher, 28, on Saturday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

--SHAUNA SNOW