I don't know about you but at the time of writing this I am beginning to wilt with the heat but am grateful we are enjoying a good summer. However, this week I have decided to take us back to a cooler December 1994, when I attended a wonderful showbiz event at the Dominion Theatre in London.

It was billed as the night with 200 stars and was raising funds for the Great Ormond Street Hospital, so how could I resist - even though my seat in the front stalls was the most I have ever paid before or since. It was classed as an awards ceremony with musical entertainment. The two organisers were a multi-millionairess from the US named Celia Lipton and the late David Gest, who I last saw in the Celebrity Big Brother house shortly before his death a year or two ago. They both had a track record for raising funds for charitable causes with showbiz events.

If I say the musical entertainment was provided by Petula Clark, David Cassidy, Michael Bolton, Elaine Page and the Four Tops you will get the idea this was not a low key event.

The drawing power for me was they shipped in quite a few old Hollywood stars and I would have a chance to mix and mingle with them during the interval. Now this is where my younger and older readers tend to part unless you are a film buff. For instance those in the audience included the likes of Buddy Ebsen, Leslie Caron, Dorothy Lamour, Van Johnson, Ann Miller, Jane Russell and Herbert Lom to name just a few.

The organisers hired youngsters to be stewards and that proved a problem for them. They instantly recognised television stars such as Anita Dobson and Bill Treacher. Ok, it was 24 years ago but they acted in EastEnders, which in those days attracted ratings that any soap opera would die for today. Incidentally, my pals in the business today will scold me and say I must call these shows continuing dramas now. Not a lot of people know this but the origin of the term soap opera for long-running television series comes from 1950s Hollywood when many such shows were sponsored by soap manufacturers.

The problem was that the young stewards did not know how to pick out old stars as we all entered the same way. I could not help myself so I escorted two veteran stars who seemed lost to their seats. One was Oscar winner Cliff Robertson, who you may remember from 633 Squadron, the interiors of which were filmed at MGM Borehamwood. The other was Gene Barry who starred in the classic 1950s sci-fi movie War Of The Worlds and had a big hit on American 1960s television series called Burke's Law. In the 1970s he did a television series at Elstree but the less said about it the better.

Robert Wagner was our onstage host for the awards ceremony and he never seems to age, although I believe he is nearly 90 now but still going strong.

They gave awards to two home-grown stars in the shape of Sir Anthony Hopkins and Sir John Mills, the latter of whom I had the pleasure to know. They gave another award to Dame Diana Rigg and she was reunited with her Avengers co-star Patrick Macnee. When Diana attended an event at Elstree last year she had not changed and is a lovely lady.

Veteran Hollywood star Anthony Quinn was also honoured and it was great to meet again as we had last met at Elstree when he was shooting The Greek Tycoon.

Perhaps my favourite award of the night was also tinged with a bit of sadness. It went to the legendary Ginger Rogers, who was perhaps the most famous on screen dancer of all time. However, she had to be in a wheelchair when Douglas Fairbanks Jr presented her with the award. That was preceded with a film clip of them starring together 60 years earlier. The passage of time, as with all us of us, was evident but it remains a special memory.

Sadly so many of the names I have mentioned have gone to that great studio in the sky since. I now wish I had taken some photos or collected some signatures although thankfully I retain my memories. Once again thank you to readers who stop me to say they enjoy this. I admire your patience and until next week remember a drink a day keeps the doctor away. This comment is not endorsed by this paper or the NHS but you only live once.