FIRST OFF . . .

Actor Timothy Dalton and actress Vanessa Redgrave won undisclosed libel damages Tuesday in London for newspaper allegations that he was rude to his producer and that colleagues dreaded her arrival on a movie set. Their lawyer, Oscar Beuselinck, told a High Court judge that a settlement had been reached with Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd. The Sunday Mirror alleged in October that Dalton was rude and behaved unprofessionally toward producer Cubby Broccoli during filming of “License to Kill.” Beuselinck told the court the newspaper also claimed Redgrave “was in the habit of making life impossible whenever she appeared on a film set” and that people making the movie “were at one stage dreading her arrival on the set of the film.” The newspaper’s lawyer said the Sunday Mirror withdrew the “wholly untrue” allegations and apologized unreservedly. Neither Dalton nor Redgrave was in court, but Beuselinck said after the hearing: “Miss Redgrave is delighted that this matter has been resolved, and Mr. Dalton will almost certainly give his money to charity.”