Did yo-yo dieting cut short the life of Pretty Woman singer Orbison?

American pathologist Dr Michael Hunter believes the singer famed for haunting 1960s hits such as Only The Lonely, Crying and Oh, Pretty Woman developed an obsession with diet.

After the singer’s life was blighted by the deaths of his wife and two eldest children he threw himself into non- stop work.

Then off stage, he would follow binge- eating sessions involving vast amounts of junk food with periods of near-starvation dieting to lose weight before his next concert tour.

“This cycle of substantial weight gain followed by drastic weight loss would have undoubtedly placed tremendous strain on his heart,” Dr Hunter reveals in a new episode of Autopsy: The Last Hours of… which is due to be shown in the UK later this year.

In a painstaking investigation of the star’s medical records as well as interviews with friends and colleagues, Dr Hunter discovered Orbison ignored a stark warning to curb his unhealthy lifestyle.

Ten years before his death in December 1988, the singer underwent triple heart bypass surgery after his arteries had become clogged.

Afterwards, however, he simply returned to his feast-followed-by-famine routine.

The tortured star had lived that way, said Dr Hunter, since his life was turned upside down in 1966 when he saw his wife Claudette thrown from her motorcycle and killed in front of him.

They had been childhood sweethearts in Wink, Texas.

Two years later the two eldest of their three children died in a fire at his home in Nashville while he was on tour.

“He never really recovered from those tragedies,” his former tour manager Terry Wildlake recalled.

Orbison married German born Barbara Anne Marie Wellhoner Jakobs in 1969 and went on to enjoy a new period of fame.

He co-founded, early in the year he died, the rock supergroup The Traveling Wilburys with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne.

Three months before his death, however, he confided to close friend and fellow singer Johnny Cash that he was experiencing severe chest pains.

Cash begged him to seek immediate medical help but Orbison said he would “work through” the pain.

He then hired a fitness trainer for the first time but this move also could have contributed to his death.

Dr Hunter said: “Yo-yo dieting puts an incredible strain on the heart which, over time, can cause it to weaken considerably.

“This form of dieting, on top of a sudden exercise programme at the age of 52, could have been a step too far.”