You're a Green one, Mr. Grinch

It was green on green at the Garden last night as the Grinch, star of "Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical," showed up courtside at the Celts game. The Whoville-hating grouch was there to hear Maya Goldman, who plays Cindy-Lou Who, sing the national anthem.

Surrounded by several of his funny friends, the droll and deadpan Steven Wright was inducted into the Boston Comedy Hall of Fame last night. The wild-haired Wright, who lives in Carlisle, was honored with the Hall of Fame's Thomas Wignell Award during a silly ceremony at Showcase Live in Foxborough. Tony V. hosted and the illustrious guest list included the likes of Lenny Clarke, Don Gavin, Kenny Rogerson, Steve Sweeney, Mike Donovan, Jimmy Tingle, Mike McDonald, Barry Crimmins, and Fran Solomita. Founded by City Councilor John Tobin, the Hall is a charitable organization that assists comedians in need.

Does the world need another Boston mob movie? Graham King thinks so. The producer of "The Departed" is making a movie based on the life and times of John Martorano, the onetime enforcer for James "Whitey" Bulger's Winter Hill Gang. Martorano was an executioner for the mob, killing 20 people over a decade. But when he learned that his associates, including Bulger, were government informants, Martorano flipped and began cooperating with the feds, exposing ties between the mob and the FBI's Boston office. A former altar boy and high school football star, Martorano ultimately served 12 years in prison. He was released in 2007. According to Variety, which first reported the movie deal, King met Martorano through Thomas B. Duffy, a former state police detective who was a technical consultant on "The Departed" and "Edge of Darkness," the Mel Gibson pic that just wrapped filming here. "When I first met John, I was struck by his unyielding sense of loyalty to those close to him," King told Variety. "John has had a complicated life and it will be a fascinating story to tell the world." Martorano turned 68 on Saturday and is living in the Boston area.

Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops played a cheery holiday concert for the kids at Children's Hospital yesterday, with 4-year-old Jose Pizarro conducting. "Keith asked him if he'd ever conducted before and if he wanted to be a conductor, and he said yes to both," said spokeswoman Amy Sweeney. Once he got the baton, "he was a quick learner." Pops 2008 High School Sing-Off competition winner Katie Mayhew also joined the caroling.

Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute feted a few folks over the weekend. Honored were talk-show host Tavis Smiley, WNET-TV exec Tamara Robinson, and Ingrid Saunders Jones, a VP at Coca-Cola. . . . Who knew Jeffrey Katzenberg was so shy? The DreamWorks cofounder was in town yesterday to talk about the studio's new movie, "Monsters vs. Aliens," but our photographer was forbidden from shooting him.

Tim Wakefield and Jason Varitek were out of town, but about 700 folks showed up at Faneuil Hall last weekend for the 2008 Candy Land Tournament, a fund-raiser for Pitching in for Kids, a children's charity supported by the Sox stars. NESN "SportsDesk" reporter Jayme Parker and her family walked off with the "Molasses Monster" first prize. The event raised $1,500 in charity donations, and all the kiddies left with Hasbro-donated toys.

Judith Dushku isn't just disappointed, she's embarrassed. "This ugly conflict between my church and those who advocate for legal gay marriage troubles me terribly," says Dushku, an associate professor at Suffolk University and the mother of "Dollhouse" actress Eliza Dushku. She's referring to the Mormon church's support for Proposition 8, the ballot measure banning same-sex marriage that passed in California. (Local Mormons who helped finance the initiative include Michelle Ainge, wife of Celts exec Danny Ainge, and members of Mitt Romney's family.) A lifelong member of the Mormon church - her ancestors pushed handcarts to Utah to establish a place of worship - Dushku says she was "deeply ashamed" by the behavior of Mormon leaders in the days leading up to the vote. (The church sent letters, held video conferences, and from the pulpit urged members to donate money and time to the pro-Prop 8 cause.) "This is completely counter to my whole life of experience with Mormons. These are not a people that are narrow and parochial," she said. "This is not what I expect." An active member of the Mormon church in Weston, Dushku risks excommunication by speaking out. But she says others feel the same way. "Many Mormons feel deeply disappointed in what our church has done with its wealth and influence," she said. "The idea that Mormons are unified around this issue is not my experience. . . . Many people are embarrassed."

Ben Affleck has been on a whirlwind of do-gooding lately, spending his weekend making care packages for troops with Operation Gratitude and planning to screen his film on Congolese refugees at the United Nations tomorrow. "I really am passionate about the humanitarian situation in the Congo, so I made a film," he told "Access Hollywood" recently, adding that he's honored the UN "is allowing me to participate in their discussion about refugees, which will follow the screening." The Rolling Stones donated their tune "Gimme Shelter" for the flick, he said. Ben's BFF Matt Damon has also been charitably engaged; Not on Our Watch, the organization he founded with Don Cheadle, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Jerry Weintraub, and David Pressman, gave the International Rescue Committee $260,000 for health clinics in North Darfur.

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