Robbins gets Hasty Pudding award, misses out on parade

Cambridge, Mass. — Actor Tim Robbins pleaded, sang and faced off with protesters to earn the Hasty Pudding Man of the Year award Thursday.

Robbins, whose best-known roles include the wrongly convicted prisoner in “The Shawshank Redemption” and a quirky baseball pitcher in “Bull Durham,” made his case to a “parole board” — a wooden board with “parole” written on it — and sang a version of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” with the lyrics rewritten for him.

The actor, known for his social activism, also had to deal with sign-toting protesters before members of the Harvard-based student drama troupe, dressed in drag, presented him with the bronze pudding pot.

Robbins’ companion, actress Susan Sarandon, was crowned the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year in 1996.

“She actually prepared me for a parade, so she talked mostly about a parade and I didn’t end up getting a parade,” Robbins, 46, said of the advice he got from Sarandon.

Rock: Safety first at Oscars

New York — First-time Oscar host Chris Rock, a comedian known for his frequent use of expletives, says the five-second decency delay on the ABC show’s Feb. 27 telecast will be a welcome “safety net.”

“I’ve been on TV and been funny not cursing,” Rock says in an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes” newsmagazine, to air Sunday night. “As far as content is concerned, I will talk about the movies. I’m not really worried about it. I’m sure ABC is more worried about it than me.”

Rock also says that when he arrives on Oscar night, he may be traveling “small,” without an entourage. The 39-year-old actor-comedian says “with a posse, you’re not letting the real world in. And if you don’t let the real world in, you’re not going to be funny.”

He added: “Donald Trump rolls pretty small, you know.”

Birthdays

Pop singer-actress Haylie Duff is 20. Singer Smokey Robinson is 65. Actor Jeff Daniels is 50. Britain’s Prince Andrew is 45. Singer Seal is 42. Actress Justine Bateman is 39. Actor Benicio Del Toro is 38.