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Gibson has a potential summer blockbuster in The Patriot, a drama about the American Revolution. But because he's a Three Stooges nut, he produced a TV movie about the crazy trio airing on ABC Monday. "I remember when I was 5 or 6, when TV was black and white," he tells us, "I couldn't take my eyes off them. I loved the eye poking and the hair pulling." The grown-up Gibson incorporated homages to the Stooges in his Lethal Weapon movies. "Their moves are part of every actor's repertoire," he says. "There's something very primal about them. Putting a guy on a barbecue spit and lighting a fire under him -- it's lowbrow and primitive and you can't help laughing. Women don't go for that knuckle-dragging humor, though." In the same conversation, Gibson, 44, says he's "matured." Being dad to baby No. 7 (Tommy, just a year old) "is different in your mid-40s. I'm a little more cool and I can enjoy fatherhood more."

How did 19-year-old singing sensation Christina Aguilera get her start?
Josey Mandese, Merritt Island, Fla.

This year's Grammy winner for best new artist says she can't remember a time she didn't want to perform. Her mother, Shelley Kearns, is a violinist and pianist who once traveled the world performing; she helped her daughter get an appearance on Star Search at 8, and later The New Mickey Mouse Club, which also spawned Britney Spears, two 'N Sync singers and Felicity's Keri Russell. In fact, Aguilera, whose first, self-titled album has sold more than 5 million copies, and Spears, with whom she competes for fans, are friends.

I'm interested in actress Bo Derek, widow of director John Derek. Is she seeing anyone new?
Veronica Wille, Northfield, Minn.

Derek, still a "10" at 43, has always piqued more interest with her love life than her acting. She had one date with Monaco's Prince Albert, but they're now just friends. Reported romances with Kiefer Sutherland (recently divorced) and Paul McCartney (now an item with Brit model Heather Mills) aren't true, she says. Derek, born Mary Catherine Collins, lost her Svengali husband -- he was 30 years older -- two years ago when he died of a ruptured aorta. She starred in a TV drama last year that flopped after two weeks, but she's put Hollywood on notice that she's ready for any part. For now she hosts American Movie Classics' The Hollywood Fashion Machine, and she's had guest spots on Family Law and The Drew Carey Show.

I miss ABC's Sam Donaldson on the White House beat. We hardly see him now. Where is he?
Patti Calvert, Grand Cane, La.

Donaldson, who reveled in his return to White House duty during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, is equally delighted with his latest role: broadcasting on the Web. He's interviewing movers and shakers, from Internet pioneers to rock musicians, for a show at abcnews.com (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 12:15 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET). It's not as high-profile as the now defunct PrimeTimeLive he anchored with Diane Sawyer, but it's his alone. Plus, he's still booming questions at newsmakers of the week on the Sunday political show he co-hosts with Cokie Roberts, and he reports for 20/20, too. Hard-working as he is, Donaldson, 66, finds time to escape with his wife, Jan Smith, to their 2,700-acre ranch near Roswell, N.M., where, at the right time of year, he can be found shearing sheep.

What is going on with musician Bob Seger these days? I'm a fan going back to his earliest works.
Tom Sellari, New Kensington, Pa.

We wondered about Seger as well, particularly after we saw Lara Flynn Boyle showing off a sequined Seger T-shirt at the Golden Globe Awards. (Turns out Seger was as surprised as anyone; he saw her on TV, too.) The Michigan rocker, who sang such classics as Night Moves, is recording songs for a future album, but because he's taking his time, Capitol Records can't predict when it will come out or when Seger, 54, will tour again. Hard-core fans like you have kept his 1994 Greatest Hits alive; it was a top 200 album in America for 200 weeks. In fact, older rockers such as Seger and Steve Miller outsell all but a few new bands.

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BIRTHDAYS

April 23: Melina Kanakaredes, 33; Valerie Bertinelli, 40.
April 24: Barbra Streisand 58 Shirley MacLaine, 66.
April 25: Tim Duncan, 24; Renee Zellweger, 31; Al Pacino, 60.
April 26: Jordana Brewster, 20; "T-Boz" Watkins, 30; Carol Burnett, 67.
April 27: Casey Kasem, 68.
April 28: Jay Leno, 50.
April 29: Andre Agassi, 30; Master P, 30; Uma Thurman, 30; Michelle Pfeiffer, 42; Eve Plumb, 42; Kate Mulgrew, 45; Jerry Seinfeld, 46.