A former Watford cinema manager, who gave a young George Michael his first job, has died aged 73.

Shirley-Ann Mallery was the manager at the Empire cinema in Merton Road, where she broke box office records by running Grease for 17 consecutive weeks.

But after a four year battle with lung cancer, Mrs Mallery passed away at the Peace Hospice on Sunday, April 12.

Mrs Mallery grew up in Norwich and lived in London with her first husband, with whom she had five children.

But it was a chance meeting with Malcolm Mallery, the chief projectionist at the Empire cinema in Merton Road, in a fish and chip shop in Watford that changed her life 30 years ago.

Mr Mallery, 69, said: “She was in there one day because she was a nurse at Watford General then. She was getting fed up with it. We got talking and we hit it off. I offered her a room when she split up with her first husband and a job to look after the house.

“I encouraged her to go into cinema management. She applied to EMI and had to go for an interview and she got the job. Within a couple of months they put her in the Empire. She was there until it closed for twinning (when it became a two-screen venue), and came back as manager and I was chief projectionist.

“She broke all box office records with Grease. It took an unbelievable amount of money. There were queues at 8am and the cinema didn't open until 2pm. We have never seen anything like it. It ran for 17 weeks.”

The pair married in a ceremony at Watford Registry Office 29 years ago, and lived together in The Gossamers, Garston.

However, Mrs Mallery was forced to take early retirement due to ill health when the cinema finally closed.

“She was very popular with staff and very popular with the public, especially the late night shows. Everybody loved her,” Mr Mallery said.

“She gave George Michael his first job. He was an usher/doorman. He was there quite a while. He penned one of his songs, Careless Whisper, going back and forth on the buses. I remember him doing it in the foyer one night. He was in his late teens then, living in Bushey with his parents. She really liked him.”

Mrs Mallery enjoyed gardening and loved jewellery. She was also a keen bingo player at the Meriden community centre, and liked listening to a range of music including Eva Cassidy and Mario Lanza.

Mr Mallery said: “To me, she was just a one-off. She was a great woman and somebody I'm going to greatly miss. There aren't many like her.”

The funeral of Shirley-Ann Mallery will take place at 3pm on Friday, April 24. All are welcome. Any donations should be sent to the Peace Hospice.