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Cher hired aide to convince fans she was female: book

One of Cher’s biggest hurdles early in her ­career was convincing audiences she wasn’t a man, because of her deep-throated delivery, a new book on the iconic singer reveals.

The tome from British imprint Plexus also chronicles her relationships with men from ­David Geffen to Gregg Allman, and how, one night, Cher saved a male musician’s life with ­advice from her gynecologist.

Josiah Howard’s “Cher: Strong Enough,” ­recounts that when the future superstar broke onto the scene as a teen with her older hubby and partner, Sonny Bono, misconceptions were so prevalent that she was a man, a secretary was hired to persuade fans otherwise.

“Just three months after they hit the big time, Sonny and Cher’s . . . secretary was charged with responding to each and every inquiry, even those from fans, to refute the rumor,” the book says.

A letter dated Sept. 8, 1965, to a fan reads: “Cher, we assure you, is a girl. She is 19 years old and happily married to Sonny (who is 25) [Bono was actually 30]. As for Cher’s singing voice being too low: I think you will find that a lot of great female singers have low voices . . . Tell your mom that Cher is just a very slim, very pretty girl with a low voice. I think if you listen closer, you will find a lot of feminine quality in her voice.”

In 1974, after Cher had become a star and while she was dating Geffen, one night she found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time, the book details. At a party for the Average White Band, guests passed around a drug they thought was cocaine but turned out to be heroin.

Drummer Robbie McIntosh died the following day from an overdose. However, Cher had abstained and saved band bassist Alan ­Gorrie’s life by bringing him home and “following the advice of her gynecologist (her personal physician was unavailable) . . . induced vomiting, applied ice packs to his body and forcibly walked him around, preventing him from losing consciousness and lapsing into a coma.”

She was later called before an LA grand jury ­after the party host was charged with murder.