FIRST OFF . . .

Raquel Welch’s $10-million award against Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and others claiming that she was wrongfully fired from the 1980 movie “Cannery Row” has been upheld by the 4th District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles. Presiding Justice Arleigh Woods accepted Welch’s arguments that she was fired without reason from the movie--except, as she claimed, to become a scapegoat for its cost overruns--and was replaced by Debra Winger. Welch has not acted in film since. Woods, whose opinion was issued Friday, refused to change an award of $2 million in compensatory damages and $8 million in punitive damages. The original defendants included MGM, its president David Begelman, and the movie’s producer, Michael Phillips.