Cosby pledges $1M to museum

Fredericksburg, Va. — Comedian and actor Bill Cosby pledged at least $1 million for a planned U.S. National Slavery Museum.

Cosby announced Friday he would donate proceeds from 10 concerts to the museum effort, or between $1 million and $1.5 million, museum officials estimate. Cosby sits on the museum’s board.

“We need history,” Cosby told an audience in Fredericksburg, where the museum is planned to open in 2007. “We need proof for our children … to see the strength of their ancestors.”

The museum plans fund-raising activities in conjunction with each concert and hopes to raise $20 million, said Ed Wegel, chairman of the museum’s capital campaign committee.

Construction on the five-story, 250,000-square-foot building is scheduled to begin later this year.

Neuwirth joins ‘Law and Order’

Los Angeles — Bebe Neuwirth, who played Lilith the psychiatrist on sitcoms “Cheers” and “Frasier,” is getting serious with a role as the latest member of the “Law & Order” franchise.

Neuwirth will play a tough Manhattan prosecutor in “Law & Order: Trial by Jury,” coming to NBC next year. She joins actor Jerry Orbach, who is moving over from the original “Law & Order” series.

An air date for the new “Law & Order” has not been announced.

Neuwirth received two Emmy Awards for her portrayal of Frasier Crane’s wife (and later ex-wife) on the NBC sitcoms. An acclaimed musical stage star, she won Tony Awards for “Sweet Charity” and “Chicago.”

Victoria’s Secret on tour

New York — The Victoria’s Secret Angels hit the road for the lingerie retailer’s first nationwide tour: Angels Across America.

Tyra Banks, Gisele Bundchen, Heidi Klum, Adriana Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio will present the 2004 holiday gift collection in New York on Nov. 8, then travel to Chicago (Nov. 9), Las Vegas (Nov. 11) and Los Angeles (Nov. 12).

In Las Vegas, the Angels will be inducted into the Hard Rock Hall of Fame. Outside the Bellagio Hotel, the renowned fountain show will welcome the models with pink water.

A one-hour special on the tour will air Dec. 13 on VH1.

Spock creates Jewish radio show

New York — Former “Star Trek” actor Leonard Nimoy is beaming onto the radio.

“American Jewish Music From the Milken Archive With Leonard Nimoy” will explore sacred and secular Jewish music from the Milken Archive of Jewish American Music during 13 two-hour episodes on WFMT Radio Network stations and XM Satellite Radio.

The series will air beginning Thursday.

“I grew up speaking Yiddish at home in Boston and hearing this music during services at synagogue and at social events where my uncle and four cousins played klezmer music,” Nimoy said in a statement Friday. “This program and this music makes me feel very much at home.”