United Kingdom, Oct. 10 -- Michael Douglas has admitted he's "not proud" of lying about a health issue to avoid being drafted during the Vietnam War.

The Basic Instinct star made the admission in his new memoir, titled One Helluva Ride, as he explained that he managed to rule himself out of fighting in the war - which he was also protesting at the time - by exaggerating the effects of a spinal condition he had recently been diagnosed with.

He wrote: "When I went in for my physical, they found something called spondylitis, which in my case meant I was missing a portion of my vertebrae and there was a curvature of my spine.

"This was good news - the doctor gave me a letter about my condition that I could show draft officers. The bad news...