Anne Traver started at the Theatre Royal as a chocolate seller and ended up as its general manager.

She was snapped up to work in the box office soon after she arrived then rose through the ranks to become PA to the managing director. She was later made front-of-house manager before taking the top job, which she held for ten years.

She retired in 1990 after 26 years at the venue.

Mrs Travers, 77, of Portland Road, Hove, said: "I ended up doing a bit of everything, which I think you have to do if you are going to be telling others what to do. It is important for management to know what it is you are asking of people."

She worked in a theatre in Margate and the Paris Cinema in New Road, Brighton, both of which have since closed, before arriving at the Theatre Royal Brighton.

She had always been attracted to the glamorous world of the stage. She said: "It is a different world to the normal nine to five. The hours are long but it is worth it.

"You can see different productions every week as well as meet so many people - so many famous people have been there through the years.

"They came in with an aura of stardom and Hollywood but turned out to be very pleasant people. To me it was a magical world and I loved it. I would do it all again if I could."

Among the stars she remembers with particular affection are Lauren Bacall, Omar Sharif, Ingrid Bergman, Marlene Dietrich and Judi Dench, who took the trouble to send a handwritten "thank you" note after receiving the standard flowers in her dressing room.

Mrs Travers said: "She was so warm and lovely. You don't really expect people of that calibre to do things like that but nothing was too much for her."

The former manager said times and the theatre had changed over the years.

Competition from TV and cinema now made it an occasional treat rather than a regular night out and more a commercial venture than a family business.

But she remains as fond of it as ever.

She said: "It has a certain atmosphere which you don't find very often. I can't put my finger on what it is exactly.

"You go in there and it is like sitting on an old comfortable chair. Things change but they can never take away what is special about the theatre."