Charity honours Joan Collins

Joan Collins with daughters Tara Newley (left) and Katie Kass

Actress Joan Collins has been honoured at a special lunch in London given by the Ladies of Variety - a branch of the Variety Club children's charity.

Collins, accompanied by daughters Tara Newley and Katie Kass, said she was delighted by the tribute because the Variety Club was very close to her heart.

"My father was a member and some of my aunts. I'm involved in a lot of charities to do with children's work."

Collins has appeared in more than 50 films but is perhaps best remembered for her role as the scheming Alexis in the TV series Dynasty.

She will shortly be back on the big screen playing Pearl Slaghoople in The Flintstones prequel Viva Rock Vega, which she described as a "wonderful movie".

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Stone's housekeeper jailed for theft

Actress Sharon Stone's former housekeeper has been sentenced to 16 months in prison after pleading no contest to stealing more than $300,000-worth of property from the Basic Instinct star.

Socorro "Coco" Del Carmen Membrano, 48, was also ordered to pay Stone $50,000 compensation for taking items including clothes and jewellery from the actress's Los Angeles home.

Membrano, who worked for Stone for about three years, was arrested in February after another member of Stone's staff saw the items in rubbish bags at the housekeeper's home.

Stone, who was not in court on Tuesday, has said she was hurt by the actions of the woman she had come to consider as a part of her family.

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Star Trek star stalked

Former Star Trek actor Patrick Stewart, who is appearing on Broadway, has to have a police escort to take him home because of a female stalker.

"She created problems for me several years ago," Stewart told the New York Post. "After three years of no harassment, she's just turned up again.

"She's a stalker, she's obsessive and her behaviour is very inappropriate and alarming," said the British star, who is starring in The Ride Down Mount Morgan.

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Zellweger piles on pounds for Bridget

American actress Renee Zellweger has put on almost a stone in weight for her leading role in the film version of Bridget Jones's Diary.

The five-feet, five-inches tall Jerry Maguire actress - who is currently dating Jim Carrey - told Vanity Fair she had abandoned healthy eating and going to the gym.

Her daily diet now included cheese omelette, sausages, pizza, cheesecake, chicken, fruit pie, ice cream, milk shakes and Guinness, she declared.

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England song set to miss top ten

The official team anthem of England in Euro 2000 will struggle to make it into the top ten, according to the music industry's midweek chart placings.

The track, Jerusalem, is currently faring even worse than the World Cup 1998 England song, On Top Of The World, which made it to just number nine.

Sonique appears likely to become the first act this year to hang on to number one for three weeks with her song It Feels So Good.

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Matthew Perry says he's fine

Friends star Matthew Perry has laughed off tabloid rumours that he needs a liver transplant following his car crash, and says he is in great shape.

"I'm in much better shape than my car," the 30-year-old star told Access Hollywood, a TV show broadcast by US network NBC.

"It was not painful at all... It was painful to the car and the porch that I hit," he added.

Perry was driving his Porsche in the Hollywood Hills in May when he swerved to avoid a car and crashed into a house.

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New guidelines for regional TV

Regional TV companies must dedicate a minimum amount of time to local programmes under new guidelines being unveiled by the broadcasting watchdog.

The Independent Television Commission (ITC) says its proposals are to protect the future of regional programming.

Under the new plans the holders of local licences would have to set aside a number of peak time slots for shows "strongly regional in character".

The move would be in keeping with the government's increased emphasis on regionalism, said the ITC's Peter Rogers.