People: Apr. 26, 1999

O.J. BITES HAND THAT ROBS HIM

Apparently, O.J. SIMPSON retains no grudges against the Los Angeles Police Department. Though the former football player and his lawyers excoriated the force during Simpson's 1995 murder trial, it was to the L.A.P.D. that Simpson turned last week after being robbed. Simpson says he was changing shoes in his car following a round of golf when he was approached by an armed man. "This guy looked like a regular solid citizen," he told the Associated Press. "In his 40s, very clean shaven. I might have taken him for an off-duty policeman." Simpson says he bit the man's hand to make him release the gun and, in the struggle, cut his own. As the man fled in his car, Simpson gave chase in his own vehicle and called police. They instructed Simpson to stop the chase when the assailant starting running red lights. So far, he is still at large. Hopefully for Simpson, the L.A.P.D. shares his spirit of forgiveness: the incident is being investigated by the same division that looked into the murders of Ronald Goldman and Simpson's ex-wife Nicole Brown.

YOU MEAN THEY WEREN'T REAL?

PAMELA ANDERSON LEE is best known for three things: videotaping her honeymoon and having large breasts. But last week, Lee's spokeswoman confirmed that the remarkably cantilevered actress had her breast implants removed. "She wanted her body to go back to its natural state," said Marleah Leslie. She stressed that Lee is unconcerned that the move may negatively affect her career, founded on Playboy pictorials and a role on Baywatch. It seems that interest in Lee's breasts does remain high. Ripley's Believe It or Not has requested the orphaned implants for an exhibit on beauty.

WIT'S BEGINNING

MARGARET EDSON seems less concerned with being the next Eugene O'Neill than making sure a group of five-year-olds has a tidy work space. On learning that she had won the Pulitzer Prize for her play, Wit, the Atlanta kindergarten teacher's immediate response was to keep cleaning her classroom. Edson wrote Wit in 1991, when she was working at a bicycle shop. The unsentimental story of a woman dying of ovarian cancer wended its way through various regional theaters before ending up off-Broadway six months ago. Edson, 37, says she has no firm plans to write another play and remains dedicated to her current work. She did celebrate: just champagne and pizza, though. After all, she said, "it [was] a school night."

FEUD OF THE WEEK

NAME: "SIR" CHARLES BARKLEY AGE: 36 OCCUPATION: Once Round Mound of Rebound BEST PUNCH: Said of Iverson, "I can't stand that guy. He has to show up for practice every day. He has a responsibility to cut the crap and not have some drama with his coach every day."

NAME: ALLEN "ME, MYSELF &" IVERSON AGE: 23 OCCUPATION: Punk with the gift of dunk BEST PUNCH: Said of Barkley in response: "What has he done? Nothing but spit on kids, throw people through windows, and talk racist when he has a white wife, and talk crazy about black people. He's nobody."

WINNER IVERSON. WHILE BARKLEY SHOOTS OFF HIS MOUTH, IVERSON SCORES