London - Ronald Reagan had affairs with dozens of women in his early days as an aspiring film star in Hollywood, it is claimed in a sensational new biography.
His 50 or so conquests are said to have included actresses Marilyn Monroe, Doris Day and Lana Turner while he was living in a “love bungalow” at an infamous hotel.
The actor was “horndog” Reagan, according to the book Love Triangle: Ronald Reagan, Jane Wyman & Nancy Davis.
The allegations are a far cry from his time in the White House from 1980-88 when he and his First Lady Nancy aimed to personify American family values.
Reagan was said to have been heavily influenced by notorious womaniser Errol Flynn, his friend and occasional room-mate at the Garden of Allah Hotel, home to celebrities and known for its all-night parties.
The relatively strait-laced Reagan was far less libidinous, but biographers have glossed over his life after arriving in Hollywood in 1937.
In his memoirs, the president covered his eight-year marriage to first wife, actress Jane Wyman, in a single 48-word paragraph. As was usual at the time, his studio set him up on dates with starlets in the hope of generating publicity.
But Reagan, who was in 19 films in his first two years in Hollywood, was too busy to give much time to this.
According to the book, he initially dragged his feet over taking out Turner. But writer Darwin Porter claims Reagan told actor Dick Powell he was glad he did as “Lana is just as oversexed as I am”.
Reagan went on to develop what he called Leading Lady-itis, even romancing actresses not in his films. Porter, who has penned a string of scandalous biographies, insisted he spoke personally to many of Reagan’s lovers.
Turner, who died in 1995, told him Reagan was a “40-minute man” in contrast with another presidential romancer - “four-minute man” John F Kennedy.
Reagan, who died in 2004 aged 93, is claimed to have had a fling with Monroe in 1948 as his first marriage fell apart.
He went to hospital after breaking his thigh bone and she visited him to administer to his sexual needs, according to star William Holden. British actress Patricia Roc reportedly slept with him in 1946 and went on to claim: “I had him long before Elizabeth Taylor.”
They met in a restaurant when she said Reagan was looking at her “like a Tyrannosaurus rex hungry for his next meal”.
She recalled: “He seemed shy and I made it easy for him. He didn’t seem happy cheating on his wife but a man’s desire won out.”
Daily Mail