Peggy Wheater was a star behind the scenes at the Theatre Royal for more than 20 years before being given a starring role on stage.

The 90-year-old, of Nizells Avenue, Hove, got her job in the box office on the spur of the moment after seeing an advert in The Argus.

She had been riding on the bus one Saturday and decided to get off at the next stop and apply in person. Within the hour she had been interviewed and told to start on Monday.

She said: "I was very lucky, it happened just like that. I thought, that sounds interesting' and the next thing I knew I was there.

"My first job was to take telephone bookings and gradually I went on the window. It was exciting serving on the window as often a familiar face appeared such as Penelope Keith, Christopher Timothy and Jeffrey Archer.

"I would be serving and suddenly they would appear saying, I am here again'."

Her encounters with the rich and famous continued until she retired at 80, often at unexpected moments such as when she picked up the post from the stage door in Bond Street every morning.

She said: "It took me by surprise one morning when Charlton Heston appeared as I was bent down. He just walked in and said hello.

"At the time it was normal but now I look back and think, wow."

Miss Wheater had her own shot at fame when a touring production of an Agatha Christie play asked her to be an extra.

She played a secretary in a court scene and had to sit with her back to the audience, pretending to take notes.

Miss Wheater said: "They needed someone wearing a black skirt and white blouse who was very precise looking so the manager recommended me. It was quite hard work. It meant six evening performances and two matinees as well as my normal box office duties.

"The stage hands kept pulling my leg, saying people in the audience were chanting Peggy, Peggy' as if I was the major star.

"I took it all with a pinch of salt."