Claire Waldoff
| Claire Waldoff | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Clara Wortmann |
| Born |
21 October 1884 Gelsenkirchen, Westphalia, German Empire |
| Died | 22 January 1957 (aged 72) Bad Reichenhall, Bavaria, West Germany |
| Genres | Cabaret (Kabarett), Music hall, Operetta, Revue, Schlager |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, actress |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1903–1942 |
Claire Waldoff (21 October 1884 – 22 January 1957), born Clara Wortmann, was a German singer. She was a famous kabarett singer and entertainer in Berlin during the 1910s and 1920s, chiefly known for performing ironic songs in the Berlinish dialect.
Wortmann was born the eleventh child of 16 in Gelsenkirchen, Westphalia, where her parents owned a tavern. After completing Gymnasium school in Hanover, she trained as an actress and chose as her pseudoynm Claire Waldoff. In 1903, she got her first theatre jobs in Bad Pyrmont and in Kattowitz (Katowice), Silesia. In 1906, Waldoff went to Berlin, where she performed at the Figaro-Theater on Kurfürstendamm. In 1907, she also began a working as a cabaret singer.
She made her breakthrough, when Rudolf Nelson gave her a job at the Roland von Berlin theatre near Potsdamer Platz. Initially planning to perform antimilitarist pieces by Paul Scheerbart in a men's suit, Waldoff had greater success with less offensive catchy songs written by Walter Kollo. During the next several years in German cabaret, she sang at Chat Noir on Friedrichstraße and at the Linden-Cabaret on Unter den Linden. During World War I, when many cabarets were closed, she performed at the Theater am Nollendorfplatz and in Königsberg.
...
Wikipedia