A new book on the life of Hollywood legend Humphrey Bogart claims the star feared he might be gay.

According to Darwin Porter author of Humphrey Bogart: The Making of a Legend due out next month, Bogart considered taking his own life over fears he might be gay, excerpts from the book published Sunday by the UK's Daily Mail suggest.

The Casablanca star slept with over 1,000 women, including Hollywood starlets Bette Davis, Jean Harlow, Marlene Dietrich and Ingrid Bergman, and had three unhappy marriages before he settled down with Lauren Bacall in 1945.

Despite an insatiable sexual appetite for women, Bogart feared he might be gay.

According to Porter, Bogart's marriage to film actress Mary Philips left him questioning his sexuality and contemplating suicide.

“If only Mary didn't make it worse,” Bogart reportedly told a friend. “When I can't perform she mocks and ridicules me. I should have never married her.”

The book claims that the uncertainty drove Bogart to consider thoughts of suicide. “But I never get beyond the thinking stage. I just can't see myself taking a razor to my throat,” he told a confidante.

Bogart died of cancer in 1957 at the age of 57.