NEWSMAKERS | Lil Wayne to kick off first tour since jail

NEWSMAKERS

Lil Wayne to kick off first tour since jail

NEW YORK

Fans who missed Lil Wayne during his yearlong stint behind bars will get a chance to show their love for the multiplatinum rapper in person: He’s kicking off a 25-city tour in March with an all-star supporting cast.

Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, Travis Barker and Mixmaster Mike will accompany Lil Wayne on his “I Am Music II” tour, which will start in Buffalo, N.Y., on March 18 and hit cities such as Atlanta, Miami, Washington and his hometown of New Orleans.

Although Lil Wayne released the album “I Am Not a Human Being” while in a New York jail for a weapons charge last year, he’s gearing up for a big return to the scene in 2011. He’s got a hit “6 Foot 7 Foot” and is due to release “Tha Carter IV” this spring.

Hasty Pudding Man of Year: Jay Leno

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.

Talk-show host and comedian Jay Leno has been named Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Man of the Year.

The Massachusetts native is scheduled to receive his pudding pot at a roast Feb. 4.

Hasty Pudding Theatricals, the nation’s oldest undergraduate drama troupe, said “The Tonight Show” host was selected because he has “entertained millions of people over his long and accomplished career in comedy.”

With the honor, Leno follows in the footsteps of his “Tonight Show” mentor Johnny Carson, who was named Man of the Year in 1977.

Actress Julianne Moore was named Hasty Pudding’s Woman of the Year last week.

Actor Paul Picerni of ‘Untouchables’ dies

PALMDALE, Calif.

Hollywood character actor Paul Picerni, perhaps best-known as Robert Stack’s FBI agent sidekick on television’s “The Untouchables,” has died. He was 88.

Picerni’s daughter Maria Atkinson-Bates says her father died Jan. 12 at Palmdale Regional Medical Center north of Los Angeles after suffering a heart attack at his home in the desert community of Llano. The death was first reported in the Los Angeles Times.

Besides his role as agent Lee Hobson on “The Untouchables” from 1960 to 1963, Picerni starred in “House of Wax” with Vincent Price in 1953. It was the first 3-D movie produced by a major studio. His other films included “The Scalphunters” in 1968 and “Airport” in 1970.

Picerni appeared in TV shows including “Gunsmoke,” “Kojak,” “T.J. Hooker” and “Perry Mason.”

‘Death Takes Holiday’ musical planned

NEW YORK

A musical based on a story that inspired the Brad Pitt film “Meet Joe Black” is coming to New York.

The Roundabout Theatre Company said Monday it will stage the world premiere of “Death Takes a Holiday” later this year. Doug Hughes will direct.

Vindicator wire services