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

PEOPLE

Sir Anthony Gets Slammed: With angry headlines Friday, including “Hannibal Traitor” and “Hannibal Defector,” Britain’s tabloids trumpeted stories on actor Sir Anthony Hopkins, who was knighted in 1992, being sworn in as a U.S. citizen on Wednesday. The Express in London quoted the 62-year-old actor as saying he “loves” living in California--he moved to Los Angeles permanently in 1998--though declining to say why he decided to become a naturalized American. “I don’t want to talk about it. Thank you for the interest. . . .” The Mirror, meanwhile, reported that people in the south Wales steel town of Port Talbot, where Hopkins grew up, felt betrayed. “America may hold glitz and glamour but . . . he should never be ashamed of where he grew up,” factory worker Daniel Davies said. Postmaster Asghar Ali noted: “Sir Anthony is always harping on about his Welshness but when the chips are down he decides to go away. . . . He is a hypocrite.” With John Travolta and Steven Spielberg as witnesses, Hopkins took the oath before U.S. District Judge Margaret Murrow during a private ceremony in her chambers at the U.S. Federal Court in Los Angeles after the close of court business. Still, Hopkins, who won his best actor Oscar as the cannibal Hannibal Lecter in “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991), wants it known he holds dual citizenship. Publicist Catherine Olem said Thursday: “As an American citizen he will not be allowed to use his title over here, but he will still be Sir Anthony when he is back in Britain.” Hopkins is scheduled to begin work shortly on “Hannibal,” “The Silence of the Lambs” sequel.

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Settlement for Heather: Heather Mills, Paul McCartney’s girlfriend, will receive $320,000 compensation for a 1993 accident in which she lost a leg after being run down by a police motorcyclist. Scotland Yard announced the out-of-court settlement with the former swimsuit model, but did not admit responsibility for the accident. Mills, whose left leg was amputated below the knee, was hit as she crossed a street in London’s Kensington neighborhood. Police motorcyclist Simon Osbourne was later cleared of careless driving and launched a suit against Mills for stress and injuries. Mills, 32, who has done charity work for amputees and land mine victims, and wrote her autobiography, “Out on a Limb,” told the Mirror in London that she went to court only in response to Osbourne’s damages suit.

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Vic Damone Retiring: Singer Vic Damone, 71, has announced his retirement. He will launch his “A Farewell to Remember” tour, concluding with what he said will be his final performance, at Carnegie Hall, on May 18, 2001. The tour also includes a Sept. 8-9 stop at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, as well as performances with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra at Orange County Performing Arts Center on May 4 and 5, 2001. “I have had the privilege to sing professionally for 53 years,” Damone said, “but . . . I’ve always wanted to go out at the top of my game.”

TV/RADIO

Truth in Advertising?: CBS is changing references to the island where its upcoming summer series “Survivor” is being shot from “deserted” to “remote.” A recent report noted the island where the network has shipped 16 contestants, located off the coast of Malaysia, receives hundreds of day visitors each year and is home to 17 park rangers. CBS has called the island “deserted” and “untouched by man” on its Web site. A CBS spokesman acknowledged the Web site is being updated, but added, “I defy anyone to visit this island and call it anything but deserted. It’s in the middle of the South China Sea and is uninhabited except for a handful of park rangers and lots of wildlife.”

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Women Honoring Women: The American Women in Radio and Television will give Joy Behar, co-host of ABC’s “The View,” its inaugural Gracie Allen Tribute Award Monday in New York. The award, created for the 25th anniversary of the organization’s annual Gracie Allen Awards, will be bestowed annually on a female comedian who “embodies the work of the legendary Gracie Allen, one of the truly remarkable pioneers in both radio and television.”

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Boon for Boone: Pat Boone, majority owner of KDOC-TV, will be on hand at the station in Anaheim at noon Monday as it launches its new digital transmitter atop Mt. Wilson. The enhanced signal will enable the station, which features family entertainment, to reach homes all over the Southland. Chuck Velona, KDOC vice president and general manager, said: “This move from Sunset Ridge to Mt. Wilson, will put us at parity with the major network affiliates and allow us to compete on a level playing field for the first time in 18 years.”

QUICK TAKES

KWHY-TV will broadcast the first HDTV broadcast on Spanish-language television with its coverage of “Fiesta Broadway 2000,” airing April 30 from 7 to 11 p.m. The annual downtown L.A. street festival features prominent musical acts on several stages. . . . Tony Bruno, formerly of ESPN radio, joins sports station KXTA-AM (1150) Monday, hosting “The Dawg Pound,” a sports call-in program along with Dave Denholm weekdays from noon-2 p.m. In late summer he will also join the Fox sports Radio Network, and plans to keep his radio day job. . . . Cinematographer Allen Daviau, who earned Oscar nominations for “E.T.,” “The Color Purple,” “Bugsy,” “The Empire of the Sun” and “Avalon”--has been named Kodak Cinematographer in Residence at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. UCLA will also present four screenings of his work, the first of which is at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the James Bridges Theater on campus. The subject, for viewing and discussion, is his 1993 movie “Fearless.” . . . The 1999 Otis Arts Festival, a free educational and cultural event presented last May at Otis College of Art and Design, has received the University Continuing Education Assn.’s top award for a public relations event. The award--part of the association’s annual honors program for marketing and publications--will be presented at a UCEA conference Tuesday in San Diego.