In this Sept. 16, 2006 file photo, Penn State coach Joe Paterno watches the college football game against Youngstown State in State College, Pa. Al Pacino will star as late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno in an upcoming HBO biopic directed by Barry Levinson. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, FIle)
NEW YORK (AP) --
Al Pacino will star as late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno in an upcoming HBO biopic directed by Barry Levinson.
HBO says the film will focus on Paterno dealing with the fallout from the child sex abuse scandal involving his former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. The all-time winningest coach in major college football history was fired days after Sandusky's Nov. 2011 arrest and died two months later at the age of 85.
A report commissioned by the university and conducted by a team led by former FBI Director Louis Freeh concluded that Paterno and three administrators hushed up the allegations against Sandusky.
The three administrators were sentenced to jail terms Friday. One of them, former university President Graham Spanier, plans to appeal his conviction.
Cynthia Erivo attends the National Board of Review Awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
Cynthia Erivo, who is starring in the hit musical "Wicked," was named Tuesday as the 2025 Woman of the Year by Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals.
The theater group, which dates to 1844 and claims to be the world's third-oldest still operating, said Erivo will receive her Pudding Pot award at a celebratory roast Feb. 5. Afterward, she will attend a performance of Hasty Pudding Theatricals' 176th production, "101 Damnations." Actor Jon Hamm, who came to fame starring as ad executive Don Draper on the AMC series "Mad Men," is the 2025 Man of the Year. He will receive his Pudding Pot Jan. 31.
"We are holding space for Cynthia Erivo's arrival," Man and Woman of the Year Events Coordinator Hannah Frazer said in a statement. "We're sweeping out our broomstick closets and prepping some wicked smart humor as we eagerly await her in February. Before she flies off with her Pudding Pot, she'll have to work a little magic to earn it."
Along with starirng in the smash hit musical, the British entertainer is a two-time Oscar nominee and an Emmy Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award winner.
Erivo burst onto the scene with her brilliant performance in the Broadway revival of "The Color Purple." winning her the 2016 Tony for best actress in a musical. She performed songs from the play on the "Today" show, earning the Daytime Emmy for outstanding music performance in a daytime program. And the show's soundtrack won best musical theater album at the 2017 Grammys.
Last year, Erivo starred in and produced "Drift," which follows a young Liberian refugee who has escaped her war-torn country to a Greek island. In 2021, Erivo was nominated for an Emmy for her portrayal of Aretha Franklin in the National Geographic series "Genius:... Read More
