Shirley Maclaine's dog is the "love" of her life.

The 76-year-old actress - who was married to businessman Steve Parker until their divorce in 1982 after 28 years of marriage - claims she had "never known" such companionship existed until she had her pooch Terry, and the pair cuddle up together in bed every night.

She said: "My dog Terry is the love of my life. I have never known Friendship and companionship like it.

"Perhaps I am bonded so closely to her because we are together every moment of the day and night. We sleep cuddled up together every night, so it's a good thing I don't have a man in my life."

Despite the lack of men in her life now, 'Terms Of Endearment' star Shirley - who recently revealed she once had sex with three different men in one day - hinted she often got very close to her co-stars on the set of movies.

She added in her new book 'I'm All Over That': "I must confess, I've always been attracted to my male co-stars. I found male actors very intriguing.

"When filming a love scene, if an aggressive actor takes off all his clothes and jumps on top of the leading lady, who may or may not peel off hers in turn, the crew will go right on lighting and moving equipment, the director will wave his hand to keep filming and say 'OK, this is good for the characters', the publicist will roll his eyes, The Front office will immediately hear about it and start to gossip, and if the two under-clad actors actually do like each other - who knows?"