WHOOPI GOLDBERG has one big regret in life - missing out on the chance to party with Hollywood icon SAMMY DAVIS, JR. days before he died following a battle with throat cancer.

The Ghost actress, a self-confessed recluse who's previously battled drug addiction, was invited to join the Rat Pack star and his famous friends to celebrate his 64th birthday in 1990 - but she let her fear of big crowds get the better of her and chose not to attend.

Goldberg was left in shock when Davis, Jr. passed away shortly afterwards, on 16 May, 1990 - and she admits her party snub was the biggest mistake she's ever made.

She tells Oprah Winfrey, "There's nothing in my life that I'm ashamed of except one thing - I had the opportunity when Sammy Davis had his last birthday to go and be with him at this giant birthday party and I didn't go, and he died a couple weeks later.

"That is the only thing in my life that I regret, because he was really great to me, really great to me.

"(I didn't go) because I get uncomfortable around lots of people because I'm very reclusive and that's the only regret I have."