Ava Gardner's deathbed confession reveals life of booze, sex and stardom

American actress Ava Gardner's turbulent life has been compiled in a new book called 'Ava Gardner

In January 1988, Gardner, who was ravaged by booze and cigarettes and a recent stroke, asked British journalist Peter Evans to ghost write her memoirs, the New York Post reported.

The book features the one time screen goddess' deathbed confessions.

Among the shocking revelations featured in the book is the fact that her first husband Mickey Rooney was such a womanizer that he cheated on Gardner while she was recovering from an appendectomy in the hospital.

The book also revealed that Gardner, who went on to marry bandleader Artie Shaw, called him another kind of bully who always put her down.

Also written in the book is that Frank Sinatra knew it was true love on their first date.

While seeing Sinatra, Gardner also had an affair with Robert Mitchum, who was married at that time; she said that she was crazy about him.

Gardner was also in a relationship with Howard Hughes, who she claimed that she never loved, asserting that despite the generosity he showed her, while paying for her dying mother's medical care, he was also a racist.

Then, in 1945, she married Artie Shaw - who left his wife for her but by that time Gardner smoked three packs of Winstons a day and got drunk constantly.

She said that she felt so intellectually insecure around her Shaw that she finally took an IQ test in which she scored high.

But one week after their 1st anniversary, Shaw dumped her for another woman.

Another man that she had a relation ship was George C. Scott, who, she said often drunkenly beat her.