LOS ANGELES - The recent spate of male movie stars writing their life stories - including Tony Curtis, Robert Vaughn and Robert Wagner - offers something that would have been verboten in their studio years: sex, sex and more sex.

Now, George Hamilton joins the tell-all trend with his memoir, "Don't Mind If I Do," in which he writes about losing his virginity when he was 12 to his stepmother. And that's just for starters. Other exploits described in the book involve such notables as Marilyn Monroe, Mamie Van Doren, Judy Garland and Danielle Steel.

The autobiography, which was written with celebrity author William Stadiem, begins with Hamilton's adventures on "Dancing With the Stars."

"When I heard it was a ballroom dancing show, I wasn't very interested," Hamilton said in an interview at his pied-a-terre high above Westwood. "But my agent said it was an important show, so I agreed."

During a yachting trip to the Bahamas, Hamilton fell down a flight of stairs and broke four ribs and damaged a knee. He was warned by a doctor that if he fell again while dancing on the show, he would puncture a lung. He tried to back out of the gig but was persuaded to try one appearance.

"I decided to make the dance a little movie, with myself as Fred Astaire," he said. "The audience loved it, and the judges couldn't get rid of me." He lasted six weeks before getting the hook.

Hamilton turned 69 in August, yet seems youthful, except for a swath of white hair above his forehead. He looked athletic in dark pants and shirt, the top two buttons loose. His face was unlined and, of course, bore the Hamilton tan.

"It's so sad that I parlayed tanning into a career," he said with a slight smile, facetiously referring not only to his enduring Hollywood persona, but also a successful chain of tanning salons. "It (began) in Palm Beach when I was in prep school. ... After the second day at the beach, I got a lot of attention. Somehow it came to me that I looked better with a tan.

"I can tan quickly. What takes people hours to do, I can tan in half an hour."

The central figure in "Don't Mind If I Do" is Hamilton's biological mother, whom he describes as "incredibly beautiful, a real charmer, the ultimate Southern belle, irresistible to men." The mother (not to be confused with Hamilton's stepmother) had three sons and multiple marriages, and was repeatedly on the move.

During one period, she took the boys to Hollywood, where she sought a movie career. She didn't have much luck, but she formed a liaison with Charles "Buddy" Rogers. It was a relationship that lasted for years, Hamilton said, even though Rogers was married to Mary Pickford.

Hamilton himselfcame to Hollywood on a lark as soon as he finished high school in Palm Beach. Some of his fellow graduates were making the trip, and they invited him along, so he came out "just for fun."

"I had $90 in my pocket," he remarked, "and I paid $90 for four photographs to show the studios. I didn't have much luck."

Finally he landed the leading role in a cheap version of the Russian classic "Crime and Punishment." The picture cost $90,000 and Hamilton was paid $1,800.