Thanks to the Dean comparison, Newman was cast as Billy the Kid in The Left Handed Gun, which was originally set for the dead star.

Similarly, he was given the role of Rocky Graziano in Somebody Up There Likes Me, which the 24-year-old had been cast in before his fatal car crash.

In the unearthed recordings, Newman shared more of his insecurities, including how his mother didn’t think he was very good looking as a kid before he became a Hollywood heartthrob.

Peter Gethers, who is editing the memoir said: “He said that his mother did not so much think of him as flesh and blood, but as a decoration. He says that if he was not a pretty child, she never would have paid attention to him at all. It’s a devastating thing to read, and clearly forms so much of his life and his insecurity about being an actor.”