A new book by movie producer Jon Peters alleges Hollywood movie mogul Ray Stark sexually molested singer and actress Barbra Streisand at the start of her acting career.

The explosive allegations against Stark, who prior to his death in 2004 was one of the most influential producers in motion picture history, are contained in Peters’ memoir, tentatively entitled Studio Head, which was purchased by Harper-Collins Publishers in April for a reported $US875,000.

Peters, who turns 64 this year, claims his former wife, actress Lesley Ann Warren, was also molested during infamous Hollywood casting couch sessions and when he became aware of it he, “wanted to kill” Stark.

According to Peters, who produced films such as Superman Returns and Batman, “Stark [was] an ogre of male chauvinistic casting-couch sexual entitlement [and] had molested both Lesley Ann and Barbra when they were auditioning for him, and neither had ever really gotten over it.”

According to Peters, Stark first molested Streisand as she prepared for her breakthrough performance in the 1968 movie Funny Girl and again in 1973 when she was cast in The Way We Were.

Four-times divorced, Peters, former hairdresser-turned-studio-boss, has five children, and in the past year was slapped with a sexual harassment suit himself, as well as faced ongoing litigation surrounding a 2006 drunk-driving conviction.

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