June 3, 1999
Web posted at: 1:30 p.m. EDT (1730 GMT)

• Kathy Bates the victim of 'good Samaritan'
• Freddie Mercury stamp drawing criticism
• Gibson returns to 'GMA' after angioplasty
• Hayek says Hollywood wasn't receptive to her at first

Bates

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Oscar-winning actress Kathy Bates was the victim of a "good Samaritan"'s rotten deed on Wednesday.

Police say Bates was driving when a flat tire forced her to the side of the road. She called the local auto club for help. But while she was waiting, a motorist approached and offered to help. Although she declined his assistance, he stayed with her.

"When the tow-truck arrived she was distracted momentarily and when she went to get her (auto club) card, she noticed her purse was missing, along with the 'good Samaritan,'" police spokesman Mike Partain said.

The actress, who won an Academy Award in 1991 for her role in "Misery," had just drawn money from a bank and put it in her purse before the incident, but Partain declined to say how much the thief got away with.

Mercury

LONDON (CNN) -- A Royal Mail commemorative stamp depicting Freddie Mercury, the late lead singer of Queen, is drawing fire.

The stamp honoring Mercury is part of a series noting Britain's various achievements during the last millennium. But some people have objected to the inclusion of Mercury, a bisexual who died of AIDS in 1991.

"The queen we would rather see on our postage stamps is not stripped to the waist and wearing spray-on red trousers," columnist Simon Heffer wrote last week in the tabloid Daily Mail.

Heffer attacked the stamp, which went on sale Tuesday, as a "vulgar" commemoration of a star "whose degenerate lifestyle caused him to die of AIDS at an unfortunately early age."

Others objected because a tiny portion of the stamp also shows Queen drummer Roger Taylor, which violates the Royal Mail's rule that only members of the royal family are depicted on stamps during their lifetimes.

However, the Royal Mail is not backing down, issuing a statement saying the organization was proud to have Mercury depicted.

Gibson

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Charles Gibson returned to work Wednesday after undergoing an emergency procedure to clear a blocked artery.

Gibson, the ABC on-air talent who is seen on "Good Morning America" and "20/20," checked himself into a New Jersey hospital on Saturday after feeling chest pains. A checkup revealed the immediate need for an angioplasty.

"He says he feels fine and is anxious to get back to work," ABC spokeswoman Eileen Murphy said.

Hayek

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Salma Hayek might have been a household name in her native Mexico, but she says when she tried to break into Hollywood, the going was tough at first.

"It's very rare that Hollywood writes a female character who's incredibly smart and sexy and also foreign," she says in the July issue of Glamour magazine. "Hollywood has never been extremely receptive to Mexican actresses."

Hayek got her big break in the Antonio Banderas film "Desperado" in 1997, and since then has starred in several films. She appears opposite Will Smith in next month's "Wild Wild West."

Hayek also has started her own production company. The company's first project will be the life story of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, and Hayek will star.

It is a role that was reportedly once coveted by Madonna. "She (Madonna) probably hates my guts," Hayek said. "But I hope not, because I'm a big fan."