A controversial new Tom Cruise biography alleges the actor was an insatiable womanizer during high school.

The actor has been hounded throughout his career by rumors he is gay - but Andrew Morton's unauthorized book suggests he has pursued women relentlessly all through his life, and one former girlfriend claims he was homophobic.

Morton interviewed Cruise's actress ex Melissa Gilbert, who said, "I can honestly say he's a very sexual person. There was a lot of making out on the couch in my mom's living room." The pair dated when he was 19, until he ditched her for Heather Locklear.

On the gay rumors, one date who accompanied Cruise to a production of La Cage Aux Folles, tells Morton, "Men dressed as women, he couldn't handle it. We had to leave before the intermission. It really bothered him. He was definitely homophobic."

Cruise's lawyer Bert Fields has described the contents of Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography as "lies".

- Tom Cruise Gallery

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)