Around The Arts

Actress withdraws Harvard endowment\nBOSTON -- Actress Jane Fonda withdrew her $12.5 million donation to the Harvard Graduate School of Education, derailing plans to establish a research center to study gender in education.\nFonda will withhold the balance of her donation, roughly half, and the unused portion of her initial contribution will be returned to her. School officials declined to say how much of it is left.\nThe Boston Globe quoted unidentified Fonda associates as saying the actress was frustrated with the university's handling of her 2001 bequest, the largest single gift in the graduate school's 83-year history. She felt the school was being slow in finding someone to head the center, the newspaper quoted sources as saying.\nBut a school spokesman, Margaret Haas, described the relationship between Harvard and Fonda as "very cordial."\nUniversity officials called the action a mutual decision, citing the weak economy and President Lawrence H. Summers' policy that research centers should be established only when there is faculty leadership and funding for the future. Summers took the helm of the university in fall 2001.\nTV president backs real-life candidate\nMONTPELIER, Vt. -- The man who plays the president on television is backing an ex-governor who wants to be president.\nActor Martin Sheen, who portrays President Josiah Bartlet on NBC's "The West Wing," endorsed Democrat Howard Dean last week when Vermont's former chief executive dropped by the set -- on location, by the way, in Washington.\nSheen thinks Dean is "the best possible hope for the Democrats because he's not afraid to lose," said Glennis Liberty, the actor's publicist.\nDean's staff happily pointed out that the fictional Bartlet, like Dean, is a former governor of a New England state and a Democrat. Both also are married to physicians.\n"People are familiar with the show: a New England governor whose wife is a doctor. That is our story line," said Susan Allen, Dean's campaign press secretary.\nGermans honor Brit for charity work\nBERLIN -- Roger Moore will be honored by the German government next month for his work with the U.N. Children's Fund.\nPresident Johannes Rau will present the Federal Service Cross, 1st Class to Moore, best known for his James Bond films, at a Feb. 10 ceremony in Berlin's Bellevue Palace, the president's office said Friday.\nMoore, 75, serves as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF's efforts to help children living in poverty in developing countries, including campaigns against the sexual exploitation of minors.\nTerminator recovers from shoulder surgery\nSANTA MONICA, Calif. -- The Terminator is on the road to recovery.\nArnold Schwarzenegger was happy and upbeat Friday after undergoing surgery to repair a shoulder injury suffered while performing a motorcycle stunt for his upcoming movie "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines."\nThe 55-year-old star tore the rotator cuff in his left shoulder last fall but opted against surgery at the time to avoid holding up production on his film. He was admitted to St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica Wednesday and released Thursday.\n"Apparently he's doing well," said his publicist, Jill Eisenstadt. "He's looking forward to just getting back to work and being able to work out."\n"Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" is scheduled for release July 2. The film also stars Nick Stahl and Claire Danes.