Late singer David Bowie's former wife Angie has claimed that the legendary icon once tried to kill her with his bare hands.

The 66-year-old model, who was married to Bowie from 1970 until 1980, recalled how he tried to strangle her under the influence of drugs after she snapped at the musician's assistant and lover Corinne Schwab, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

"It was awful. We were in a house that Corinne had found for us, in a dark hollow in Los Angeles. David was high. I questioned Corinne rather sharply about the amount of baggage she had assembled for a trip to Jamaica, where David was going to record,” The Sun quoted the 66-year-old as saying.

"She snapped at me, so I snapped back at her, 'Don't you dare talk to me like that'. Suddenly David hurtled across the room. He grabbed my throat with both hands and started squeezing. He was blindly angry, yelling at me as he tightened his grip, and I started panicking,” she added.

Angie admitted she was left fearing for her life and claimed the incident ended when Schwab dragged him away.

"It didn't feel as if he was going to stop. Corinne pulled him off and saved me. So it's possible that I owe her my life. The fact that she did save me must have p***ed her off afterwards,” she said.