Frank Sinatra attempted suicide twice over his tumultuous love affair with screen siren Ava Gardner, according to a new tell-all book about the legendary star. Sinatra, then 35, married 29-year-old Gardner in 1951, making her the second of his four wives.

Celebrity author Tom Santopietro details the crooner's alleged internal struggles in Sinatra in Hollywood, which hits bookstores this month.

In the book, Santopietro claims Sinatra cut his wrists in friend Jimmy Van Heusen's New York apartment in 1953, the year the pair initially split. A publishing source tells the National Enquirer, "The author reveals that Van Heusen's unexpected return saved the singer from bleeding to death."

He adds, "Sinatra's first attempt at suicide had occurred a year earlier after yet another debilitating fight with Ava. He inhaled gas from the kitchen stove in a different friend's apartment. The book also says Ava had two abortions while they were together - without consulting Frank, saying that a sane lifestyle necessary for raising children just wasn't possible with him. "

The couple divorced in 1957.

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)