He drank champagne with Bette Davis, made friends with David Bowie and tried to throw Dame Edna Everage out of the building.

But for all his celebrity connections Bill Downes says he is not one to become starstruck.

The former front-of-house manager worked at the Theatre Royal Brighton for ten years.

Bill, of Curwen Place, Brighton, started as a box office assistant in 1975 and said one of his first memories was downing bubbly with screen idol Bette Davis.

He said: "Not long after I started she did a one-woman show and a questionand- answer session afterwards.

"I was one of the ones chosen to go round the audience with the mic and was invited to her dressing room afterwards for a glass of champagne.

"She was absolutely charming. I have no doubt she lived up to her reputation as a dragon at other times but to us she was really nice and chatty."

Within three months Bill, had moved up the ranks to become assistant manager and was soon front-of-house manager. This involved cleaning toilets when cleaners didn't turn up, nipping behind the box office when it was busy - and entertaining David Bowie.

The 57-year-old said: "One night David Bowie came to see a play by a friend of his and I kept him company in the interval.

"He got a few looks but most people didn't notice him. I got him a pint of bitter from the Colonnade Bar next door and we chatted a bit about the play and things.

"He was absolutely charming and very shy - quite different to the image you get when he is performing." Bill says shows are now more hi-tech, while audiences are younger and more likely to turn up in jeans than glad rags.

Despite this, he says the Theatre Royal still has its historic, intimate atmosphere and remains one of his favourites.

One of his fondest memories was a visit from Barry Humphries, aka Dame Edna.

He said: "It was opening night and all was going smoothly until towards the end of the interval when the manager, the late Melville Gillam, rushed up to me saying we had a drunk in the stalls bar and would I usher him out of the building. I went to investigate and found Mr Humphries in character as Sir Les Patterson, waiting to make his entrance. It took a while for Mr Gillam to live that one down."

After leaving the Theatre Royal in 1985, Bill became landlord of the Black Horse in Church Street. He now works for Gala Bingo.

Bill never kept an autograph book. He said: "I have never been star-struck. In retrospect I do regret never asking anyone for an autograph. Some would be worth a pretty penny now."