From ‘Baywatch’ to Billy Flynn

London — “Baywatch” star David Hasselhoff will appear in the London stage production of the hit musical “Chicago.”

The 51-year-old star of the ’80s TV series “Knight Rider” will play scheming lawyer Billy Flynn in his debut on the British stage at the Adelphi Theatre. The show has run in the West End for seven years.

He is booked for 60 performances starting July 16.

Hasselhoff, who made a fortune by co-acquiring the rights to “Baywatch,” said: “This is not about making money — this is about following my heart, challenging myself and having fun,” Hasselhoff said.

The actor made his Broadway debut in “Jekyll and Hyde: The Musical” in 2001 but has never performed in British theater before.

Swede smell of success

Stockholm, Sweden — Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia will market their brand of perfume worldwide, their cosmetics company said Monday.

The perfume is named Solliden, after the couple’s summer residence on the island of Oeland in the Baltic Sea. It has been sold in royal palace gift shops for more than 10 years.

A portion of the proceeds will go to the World Childhood Foundation, which the queen founded to help teenage mothers and sexually abused children.

Real-life jackpot

Carson City, Nev. — Elizabeth Muto was abandoned as a baby at the Reno airport 24 years ago. Now she’s Miss Nevada.

The Las Vegas woman beat 11 other women Saturday to become the first black Miss Nevada and to advance to the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, N.J., in September.

“I’ve been Nevada’s own since I was 10 days old,” Muto said. “Since then, the people of Nevada have loved and supported me.”

Muto was abandoned atop a counter at Reno-Tahoe airport. A Reno couple adopted her.

Cigars highly coveted

Sacramento, Calif. — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s personal-label cigars have become coveted currency at the state Capitol.

Political insiders who have received a stogie straight from Schwarzenegger or lifted one from his open humidor save the cigars as keepsakes or pass them on to friends.

“It’s not a status thing,” Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian said last week. “It’s more like you know when someone’s been to the governor’s office when they have a cigar in their hand.”

Aghazarian, who has asthma and doesn’t smoke, said the cigars have helped him break the ice with constituents.