Tatum O'Neal dating 'mostly women recently'

Oscar-winning actress Tatum O'Neal, who has three children with ex-husband John McEnroe, says she is bisexual and primarily dating women.

"I like women," O'Neal, 51, says in the issue of People magazine being published Friday. "I definitely have been dating mostly women recently." She does not view herself as either lesbian or straight, she added, saying, "I'm not one or the other."

The youngest person to win a competitive Academy Award -- taking home the statuette at age 10 for her supporting role as pint-size con artist Addie Loggins opposite her father, Ryan O'Neal, in 1973's "Paper Moon" -- Tatum O'Neal believes "women are the most amazing creatures on Earth," adding, "They're gentle, and also more intelligent than the men that I've met recently. I don't have a steady right now, but I look forward to it."

O'Neal married tennis star McEnroe in Oyster Bay in August 1986, three months after the birth of their first child, Kevin, who turned 29 on Saturday. They went on to have son Sean, now 27, and daughter Emily, who turned 24 on May 10, before separating in late 1992 and later divorcing. One issue affecting the marriage had been O'Neal's drug use -- curtailed during her pregnancies, she has said -- which culminated in heroin addiction and her ex-husband being granted full custody of their children.

"My biggest regret is ever trying heroin," O'Neal told People. "That stole so much of my life, but what I'm most proud of are my sweet children." Her eldest, Kevin, a novelist who has attended rehab himself for drug abuse, told People that both he and his mother are both in recovery.

"There were years my kids didn't know if I was going to live or die," O'Neal says. "Now I call Kevin every single day and I always say I am making up for lost time."