Up to four million visitors a year ride the rollercoasters, play the slot machines, gaze into crystal balls or take part in winkle-picking championships on the Palace Pier.

And amid it all, the rich and the famous have walked on (well, over) water.

Megastars like Michael Jackson, Greta Garbo and Grace Kelly have promenaded on its famous decks.

Rock stars, rulers and leaders of fashion have all paid a visited, Abyssinian Emperor Haile Selassie, fashion queen Donatella Versace and The Who among them.

The pier's splendid extravagance has led to its use as the backdrop in countless films and TV series.

It featured in Brighton Rock with Richard Attenborough, Sixties mod classic Quadrophenia and the Eighties drama Mona Lisa starring Bob Hoskins and Cathy Tyson.

Pop bands have filmed videos on the pier's rollercoaster and radio and TV stations have broadcast from it.

It has also found fame in TV soaps. Coronation Street and EastEnders filmed there. And George Cole did some Arthur Daley wheeling and dealing there in an episode of Minder.

In 1999, the Earl of Wessex dropped in unannounced, had an ice cream and left clutching sticks of rock.

Opened in 1899, 33 years after its rival, the West Pier, the Palace Pier was originally almost as elegant as its older sister. Its illuminated archway entrance led to little more than decking, which afforded visitors a breath of fresh air.

The pier-head pavilion was added in 1901, adding a dining room, smoking and reading rooms and the much-loved concert hall.

Originally visitors had to pay a toll but locals and day trippers loved its raffish air and it soon eclipsed the West Pier in popularity.

After remodelling, full-scale theatre and end-of-the-pier shows became a tradition, attracting names like Dick Emery, Ronnie Corbett and Tommy Trinder. Larry Grayson, Vince Hill, the Barron Knights and Rod Hull and Emu also trod the boards.

Broadcaster John Henty, chairman of the Max Miller Appreciation Society, said although Miller did not perform on the pier, he was a fan.

Mr Henty said: "As a young lad, Max used to swim out to the end of the pier, climb up and get free entrance. And as an older man, he spent many afternoons just sitting on the pier."

Mr Henty said the cheeky jokes cracked by Miller were eventually eclipsed by the much cheekier antics of people like glamour model Fiona Richmond, who frolicked half-naked in a fish tank on the pier.

By the Seventies the end-of-the-pier shows had had their day but the pier continued to attract attention from home and abroad.

Geoff Docherty, manager of the pier from 1979 to 1981, said seeing superstars among the day-trippers was not unusual.

"Michael Jackson was huge at the time but one day the security guys spotted him riding the dodgems.

"Big stars like Faye Dunaway came there and I remember meeting Harry Secombe."

Actor Chris Ellison never worked on the pier but he did see some of the variety shows.

He said: "One I particularly remember is Ronnie Corbett. I spent a lot of time in Brighton and the Palace Pier was always the 'bad' pier - the one where we had all the fun."

Sussex residents Pete McCarthy and Simon Fanshawe used to broadcast the appropriately-named TV series The Pier from the deck.

Simon said: "The sea is so essential to the character of Brighton and the piers are something we have that very few other people have."

Soccer superstar Paul Gascoigne brought his son Regan for a spin on the bumper cars.

Actors Robson Green and Stephen Tompkinson visited the pier while filming the ITV drama Grafters in 1999.

Muscleman Geoff Capes brought the search for Britain's strongest man to the pier and Dannii Minogue searched out unusual talents for the Big Breakfast in 1995.

When the Spice Girls arrived for a photo shoot, no one took any notice. They were virtual unknowns at the time.

DJs Carl Cox, Bentley Rhythm Ace and Fatboy Slim have mixed and scratched there. Teen idols 911 rode the rollercoaster for the video of Love Sensation and heart-throbs Five took the same white knuckle ride.

Ex-boxer Chris Eubank filmed a TV commercial for Network South Central and actor Neil Morrissey promoted Coca-Cola.

The pier has been owned by the Noble organisation since 1984 and the company sparked controversy in 1998 when it announced the pier was to change its name to Brighton Pier. The proposal caused an outcry among locals and visitors and although Noble went ahead, most people, including The Argus, still call it by its original name.