NEWS LITE : NAMES IN THE NEWS COUNTRY HONOR GOING TO ELVIS.

Elvis Presley will become only the second performer to be a hall of famer in both rock 'n' roll and country music in September.

Presley will be inducted on Sept. 23 into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Country Music Association announced Monday in Nashville, Tenn. Currently, only Johnny Cash is honored at both the Nashville and Cleveland museums.

The late singers Tammy Wynette and George Morgan, and broadcast executive E.W. ``Bud'' Wendell will be inducted along with Presley during the CMA's annual awards show.

Presley aspired to be a country singer before he became a rock 'n' roll icon. He died in 1977, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.

Actress Manheim refuses typecast

Camryn Manheim was tired of roles that hinged on the way she looked. So she started auditioning for roles that called for powerful, aggressive men.

``I didn't want to get stuck in the jolly, fat girl part for five years on some sitcom,'' said Manheim, 37, who eventually landed the role as feisty lawyer Ellenor Frutt in ABC's ``The Practice.''

``Because I am a large woman, I have always been given the gum-smacking, sassy, funny girl parts. . . . It was my survival role for years,'' she told TV Guide.

She got past the typecasting in 1993, when she caught the eye of producer David E. Kelly with her soul-bearing, one-woman, off-Broadway play ``Wake Up, I'm Fat.''

``I wrote my show for three reasons: to catapult my career, to have a cathartic experience and to get a boyfriend. It worked for all three.''

Hotel staff makes Clinton visit trivial

In preparation for the arrival of Bill Clinton and traveling companions, employees of the Portman Ritz-Carlton in Shanghai ``scoured the local area'' for baking ingredients for bagels and low-fat muffins, says an official release from the hotel.

In addition, hotel staff members competed by answering presidential trivia questions - ``What is the name of the Clintons' new dog?'' ``Which musical instrument does President Clinton play?'' - to ``help our Chinese employees understand a little more about the first family,'' said hotel general manager Mark DeCocinis. Six winners were presented with Washington T-shirts.

NOW entering ring vs. Tyson

The National Organization for Women is taking a swing at Mike Tyson.

NOW's Southern Nevada chapter launched a campaign Monday to block his effort to regain his boxing license from the Nevada Athletic Commission.

Tyson was banned from the ring last year after biting Evander Holyfield's ears during a title bout.

Stallone announces birth of couple's second Rose

Sylvester Stallone and his wife, Jennifer Flavin, are the parents of another girl.

``This is a great day for our family,'' Stallone said Monday in announcing the birth of Sistine Rose, who weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces. The baby was born Saturday at a Los Angeles-area hospital.

The couple, who wed in 1997, already have a 22-month-old daughter, Sophia Rose, who underwent surgery last fall to repair a hole in her heart. Stallone publicist Paul Bloch said Sistine Rose is healthy.

Last July, Miss Flavin had a miscarriage.

News Lite is compiled by Karen Duffy from Daily News staff and wire reports.

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos

Photo: (1) Dressed to the k-nines

Zipper, a Pomeranian, won second place in the ``Strut Your Mutt'' dog show last week during Heritage Days in Clatskanie, Ore.

Associated Press

(2) Sylvester Stallone and his wife, Jennifer Flavin, are parents again.

(3) PRESLEY

(4) MANHEIM