It's always been well known that actor and singer Anthony Newley, who died in 1999, was a womaniser. But his son now claims that his father was a paedophile who had sex with countless minors.
Anthony played Artful Dodger in the 1948 version of 'Oliver Twist'. He also co-wrote the lyrics to the James Bond song 'Goldfinger' and was nominated for an Oscar for co-writing the popular score of 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'.
"He was a paedophile. My father was drawn to youthfulness; he thought innocence was an aphrodisiac," Alexander Newley said in an interview published in yesterday's Sunday Times.
"That was his sexual proclivity and it's a very dangerous, destructive thing."
Alexander added: "He had been honest with my mother about his appetite for young girls, and said he would change, but she married him anyway."
He married Joan Collins in 1963, but they divorced in 1971. Alexander, who has just written a memoir entitled 'Unaccompanied Minor', claims his mother became mortified and decided to end the marriage when Anthony made a film about his sexual fantasies.
The film 'Can Heironymous Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?' was eventual destroyed. Alexander says that the 1969 film was a "confession of paedophilia".
But his sister Tara has this morning dismissed the claims about their father.
"I was shocked by my brother's comments. From my end, I don't recognise the man he is describing. I had an incredibly close relationship with my father and am deeply upset by these false allegations," she stated.
While his mother Dame Joan Collins said: "As far as I'm concerned this is absolutely untrue. I have nothing further to add."