Tall, tanned and often bare-chested, the six-foot-tall movie star from Texas, Matthew McConaughey, was just another beefcake actor starring in vacuous romantic and coming-of-age comedies that kept the money flowing in. With the help of a seductive smile and hard abs, he had a string of affairs with Hollywood leading ladies – Sandra Bullock, Ashley Judd, Renee Zellweger, Patricia Arquette... and Penelope Cruz . 'There's a bit of a language barrier, but it's like poetry when it happens,' he said of Cruz. 'What I really love about her is that she sees everything for the first time, every time. And she's one of the best listeners I've ever met.' Scroll down for video . Hot and heavy: Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz  in Paris. They also drove to Mexico together in his Airstream trailer. But then another woman stopped him dead in his tracks . Sandy smoooch:  McConaughey and Cruz met on the set of the film Sahara . Easy rider: McConaughey fixing and cleaning up his Airstream camper van in Malibu . They drove to Mexico together in his Airstream trailer. But then another woman stopped him dead in his tracks. Hanging out in the Hyde Lounge club on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood in 2006 with his pal, now-disgraced cyclist, Lance Armstrong, he saw the woman of his dreams. And she changed his life forever writes Neil Daniels in Matthew McConaughey: The Biography,  published by John Blake. McConaughey's relationship with sexy Penelope Cruz was over as soon as he spotted the 5'9' tall Brazilian model Camila Alves enter the Hyde bar. 'The first time I saw her walk across the room, I didn't say, "Who is that?" I said, "What is that?" 'The way she moved, I could see a person who knows who they are. There's a person who spends time with herself, and is not advertising for this world, and is not asking permission. From that night I haven't been on a date with anyone else'. It was a year and a half before they dated exclusively. And it set McConaughey, 45, on the path towards achieving what he considered his greatest accomplishment -  being a father. 'When I was 20 years old, I didn't know what I wanted for a career. But I knew I wanted to be a father. It had been the thing that, since I was very young, I looked up to. The men I looked up to the most were fathers – men who raised good kids'. Love of his life: Caila Alves, 33, first landed in Los Angeles from Brazil when she was fifteen. She cleaned houses and worked as a waitress before hanging up her feather duster to become a successful model for Dior and Levi's . Donna Karan Atelier Strapless Evening Gown . Visit site . Matthew McConaughey's gorgeous other half, Camila Alves has always been a beauty. But it seems she gets better looking every time we see her. She graced the red carpet at this year's SAG Awards with her A-list husband wearing a sexy strapless gown in an eggplant hue by Donna Karan Atelier. The Brazilian bombshell was joined by other Donna Karan enthusiasts that night like Sofia Vergara in a scarlet stunner with sheer panels and Emilia Clarke in an off-the-shoulder, floor length number with a criss cross design across the bodice. But that night all eyes were on Camila. The draped neckline accentuated her tanned decolletage and the mermaid silhouette showed off her curves. Not to mention the hot hue complemented her olive skin tone to perfection. Sadly, the custom piece is not available to purchase online. But we do have an awesome array of strapless dresses in our edit to boost your glam factor. From Erin Fetherston's ombre frock to Jill Stuart's ruched chiffon, there's something for all tastes at moderate prices. Nicole Miller Strapless Georgette Gown at Neiman Marcus (now $172.50) Visit site . Faviana Strapless Sweetheart Chiffon Dress  at Zappos . Visit site . JILL Jill Stuart Royal Purple Chiffon Woven Strapless Gown at Bluefly (now $285) Visit site . ERIN Erin Fetherston Isabelle Strapless Ruched Ombre Gown at Neiman Marcus . Visit site . Proud dad: Matthew and Camila and their three children are always together, here as  the actor is honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last year. Two years later, in July 2008, the couple had their first of three children and became engaged in 2011. McConaughey put a rose-cut diamond on Camila's finger and married her in June of 2012 in a Catholic ceremony presided over by a Benedictine Monk. Alves, 33, first landed in Los Angeles from Brazil when she was fifteen. She cleaned houses and worked as a waitress before hanging up her feather duster to become a successful model for Dior and Levi's. When the couple first lived together, it was in an Airstream trailer, a love of McConaughey's who now owns three of them. When he goes on location, they travel in an Airstream. 'We all go together,' Alves says. 'One thing that we decided very early in the relationship is that when he goes, we all go – the whole family. 'We're like a traveling circus. But we're never in one place for too long. We're always on the go. We've been on the road for four years'. Before Camilla, the tall Texas was viewed as a bongo-playing, bong-toking free spirit who loved to play those drums in the nude while stoned on weed. In 1999, the knock on his door was the police responding to the neighbor's noise complaint. They found him stoned and naked with a bong nearby. He resisted arrest and was hauled off to jail for resisting as well as on a marijuana possession. Sandy: McConaughey made the rounds with the leading ladies of Hollywood, including Sandra Bullock. Most of his women won Oscars, including Bullock for The Blind Side. They dated for over three years . Rene: Zellweger won for Best Supporting Actress for Cold Mountain and was nominated for Bridget Jones' Diary . Patricia: McConaughey won his Oscar last year for Dallas Buyers Club,  Patricia Arquette this year for Boy . The charges were dropped eventually but he had to pay a fifty dollar fine for disturbing the peace, a mere drop in the bucket for the actor who was then earning $4 million a film. He sang sing-alongs with his cellmates and even had T-shirts printed that read, 'What part of naked bongo playing don't you understand'? Naked was something he learned growing up when his mother never put bathing suits on him or his brothers while at the country club before they were nine years old. Three years earlier in 1996, Vanity Fair's annual Hollywood issue dubbed McConaughey the new Paul Newman. The New York Times compared him to Gregory Peck and the writer John Grisham viewed him as a cross between a young Marlon Brando and Paul Newman. McConaughey's career almost tanked when he lost out on the Titanic role to Leonardo DiCaprio. But it was all 'alright, alright, alright', with the actor whose phone didn't stop ringing after he verbalized the character's lines in the cult film Dazed and Confused in 1993 that kept Hollywood producers calling and scripts for rom-coms coming in. McConaughey was arrested by Austin, Texas police in October 1999 and charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia . Bongo man: McConaughey played the bongos for the Total Request Live audience . Easy rider: McConaughey fixing and cleaning up his Airstream camper van in Malibu . The naked bongo player's arrest was the turning point for McConaughey. 'It was something that never left me. It kept on being mentioned. I needed to make changes in my life, the way I was living and the movies I was doing. But not before he discovered his hair was falling out and resorted to using a product 'Regenix', to stimulate re-growth – keeping up with that Hollywood image. 'Back in 1999, my hair was fallin' out, so I started this stuff. And son of a gun if I didn't bring my hair back so well that people think I went and got plugs'. 'While he wasn't one of the finest actors working in American cinema he had a certain humble charm, obvious good looks and an everyday Texan attitude about him that helped propel him into the lower ranks of the A-list of Hollywood stars', the author writes. The humble kid from Texas whose first job was raking 77 sand traps on a golf course before 8 a.m., got lucky on those rom-coms and was living a carefree lifestyle. He had to exit the business in 1999 and re-consider where he was going in his career. McConaughey headed back to Texas to rediscover what where he wanted to go as an actor. Back in Hollywood, the turning point was the film, The Lincoln Lawyer, in which he played a swaggering lawyer. He went on to star with his friend, Woody Harrelson in the HBO hit series, True Detective and then the box-office hit The Dallas Buyers' Club, based on the true story of an HIV positive man who resorted to underground pharmacies that earned McConaughey an Oscar. From vacuous scripts, McConaughey has soared to the top of the A-list actors with intelligent performances. This was the man who grew up in a small town, Uvalde, Texas, his father 'a pretty carny salesman' who had invested in a diamond mine in Ecuador that turned out to be phony, and his mother a kindergarten teacher. But the house was always filled with love. McConaughey first thought of becoming a lawyer but changed direction and studied acting because tuition was cheaper at the University of Texas. Now the 'man with the brilliant smile and the golden torso – an easygoing sport who, temperamentally, never seemed more than fifty yards from the beach – has become one of the most inventive actors in movies', writes David Denby in the New Yorker. Matthew McCConaughey: The Biography by Neil Daniels and published by John Blake is available on Amazon April 1.
Matthew McConaughey had a string of affairs with Hollywood leading ladies Sandra Bullock, Renee Zellweger, Patricia Arquette, reveals new book . But from the night he met his future wife, 'I haven't been on a date with anyone else'
His career almost tanked when he lost the Titanic role to Leonardo DiCaprio . He admits he used Regenix after he started going bald...and it worked .