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

PEOPLE

Hasselhoff in Rehab for Alcohol, Publicist Says

David Hasselhoff has checked himself into the Betty Ford Center for treatment of alcoholism, according to his publicist. The former “Baywatch” star, who turns 50 next week, issued a release Monday announcing the voluntary stay at the hospital.

“He realized his social drinking had increased more than he was comfortable with and he decided to do something about it,” read the statement from Richard Hoffman.

The actor checked in June 26, but his representatives did not know when he planned to check out. Hasselhoff’s recent roles included a cameo appearance as himself in the summer comedy “The New Guy,” and he performed on Broadway last year in the musical “Jekyll & Hyde.”

MOVIES

Madonna to Cameo in New Bond Film

Madonna will make a cameo appearance in the latest James Bond movie, her spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Liz Rosenberg said the singer, 43, who has already recorded the title track for “Die Another Day,” the 20th Bond film, was on the set in London to film her brief scenes this week.

London’s Evening Standard newspaper said Madonna will wield a foil in the movie as a fencing instructor. The newspaper said she had shot a sequence that will be edited into a swashbuckling scene in which Pierce Brosnan, as Bond, duels with villain Gustav Graves, played by Toby Stephens, at a London gentlemen’s club.

Rosenberg said Madonna was flying to Los Angeles next month to film a video for the movie’s title song.

THEATER

‘N Sync’s Fatone Set for Broadway Debut

The boys of ‘N Sync are keeping busy during hiatus. Lance Bass is negotiating with the Russian Space Agency to become the next space tourist, and Joey Fatone will make his Broadway debut this summer in the long-running production of “Rent.”

According to the New York Times, Fatone will take on the role of Mark, a struggling video artist and narrator of the show. His first public performance in the role is scheduled for Aug. 5, continuing through Dec. 22. “It’s nice to have a chance to play a character, not be myself,” Fatone told the Times.

“Rent” has been running at the Nederlander Theater for more than six years, with ticket sales slowing in recent years. Producers hope that Fatone will tap into a whole new audience for the production.

Ahmanson’s Puzo Moves to USC

Madeline Puzo, associate producer of the Ahmanson Theatre since 1995 and of the Mark Taper Forum from 1981-89, is the new dean of the USC School of Theatre, replacing the retiring Robert Scales. In recent years Puzo produced such plays as Peter Hall’s staging of “Measure for Measure,” Anna Deavere Smith’s “House Arrest” and the revised “Flower Drum Song.”

TELEVISION

TCM Remembers Frankenheimer, Steiger

Turner Classic Movies will honor noted filmmaker John Frankenheimer, who died Saturday, with a seven-film festival on Friday beginning at 3 p.m. The films will include “The Young Stranger,” “The Young Savages,” “I Walk the Line,” “Grand Prix,” “Birdman of Alcatraz,” “Seven Days in May” and “The Extraordinary Seaman.”

In a similar tribute Saturday, TCM will honor Rod Steiger with a three-film fest: “The Harder They Fall”; “Doctor Zhivago” and “In the Heat of the Night,” for which he won the Oscar for best actor. Steiger died Tuesday at the age of 77.

QUICK TAKES

The Who will perform at Irvine’s Verizon Amphitheater on Sept 15. The original June 29 date was postponed following bassist John Entwistle’s death on June 27. All tickets for the June 29 concert will be honored at the September show.... The Sci-Fi Channel will premiere the one-hour original series “Tremors,” based on the cult movie series, in January 2003.... Wolfgang Petersen (“The Perfect Storm”) will direct “Batman vs. Superman,” a film he describes to Daily Variety as a “clash of the titans”-style caper about the two superheroes who come to blows over differing philosophies. The film is scheduled to be released in 2004. Neither of the superheroes has been cast.... Rolling Stones Mick Jagger and Keith Richards will guest star in a November episode of “The Simpsons” in which Homer Simpson goes to rock ‘n’ roll fantasy camp.... Robert Altman and Cate Blanchett will team up for the three-hour HBO feature “Mata Hari,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.... Actor Rupert Everett will join former President Bill Clinton and others as a panelist on MTV’s special “Staying Alive: A Global Forum on HIV/AIDS,” Sunday at 10 a.m. ... CBS and RealNetworks, Inc. announced Tuesday that they will provide exclusive, continuous live video streaming from the “Big Brother 3” house tonight at 7 (immediately following the East Coast broadcast). The live Web cast is available as a subscription service and can be ordered through www.CBS.com and through RealNetworks’ RealOne SuperPass subscription service.

--Lisa Boone