Claire Waldoff

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 to the 1930s, chiefly known for performing ironic songs in the Berlin dialect and with lesbian undertones and themes.

Biography

Wortmann was born the eleventh child of sixteen in Gelsenkirchen, Westphalia, where her parents owned a tavern. After completing Gymnasium school in Hanover, she trained as an actress and chose as her pseudonym ''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.

Waldoff's success reached its peak in the Weimar Republic era of the 1920s. She was known for singing her songs in distinctive Berliner slang, attired in a shirt with a tie and the fashionable crop hairstyle, cursing and smoking cigarettes on stage. From 1924 she performed at the two great Berlin varieté theatres, ''Scala'' and '' Wintergarten'', sang together with young Marlene Dietrich, and had her songs played on the radio as well as released on record. Her repertoire included around 300 original songs.

Waldoff lived together with her significant other Olga "Olly" von Roeder (12 June 1886 – 11 July 1963) until her death. The couple lived happily in Berlin during the 1920s. Part of the queer scene, they associated with celebrities like Anita Berber in the milieu around ''Damenklub Pyramide'' near Nollendorfplatz. Waldoff was also close friends with Kurt Tucholsky and Heinrich Zille.

During the Great Depression in 1932, Waldoff performed in an event hosted by the Communist '' Rote Hilfe'' organization at the Berlin Sportpalast, which earned her a temporary professional ban ('' Berufsverbot'') when the
Nazis and Hitler came to power the next year. After she joined the ''Reichskulturkammer'' association the ban was lifted, but Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels continued to regard her with suspicion because her manners and appearance contradicted the official role model of women in Nazi Germany. Waldoff had to cope with further stage and publication bans. In 1939, she and Olga von Roeder left Berlin together to retire in Bayerisch Gmain, Bavaria. In World War II she made last appearances in ''Wunschkonzert'' broadcasts of the Großdeutscher Rundfunk and in Wehrmacht troop entertainment shows.

After the war, she lost her savings in the West German monetary reform of 1948 and from 1951 relied on little monetary support by the Senate of Berlin. In 1953, she wrote her autobiography. Waldoff died aged 72 after a stroke and was buried in the ''Pragfriedhof'' cemetery in Stuttgart. In 1963, her life partner Olly von Roeder was buried alongside Waldoff's grave.Wilson, Scott. ''Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons'', 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 49193-49194). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Claire Waldoff has a star on the Walk of Fame of Cabaret, Mainz.

Songs by Waldoff

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* 1909:
** (1909)
** (M.: Walter Kollo, T.: Hermann Frey)
* 1910:
** (M: Walter Kollo, T.: C. Waldoff).
** (Rudolf Nelson).
** (E. Hartmann).
**
* 1911:
** (M.: Walter Kollo, T.: Hardt).
** (M.: Walter Kollo, T.: Hardt).
** (M.: Walter Kollo, T.: Hardt).
** (M.: Walter Kollo, T.: A.O. Alberts).
**
**
**
**
* 1912:
** (or, ). (J.F. Rollers).
**
** (or, ). (Heinrich Lautensack)
** (M.: O.B. Roeser, T.: Harry Senger).
** (M.: Georg Mewes, T.: Harry Senger).
** (M.: Walter Kollo, T.: Hartmann).
* 1913:
** (Soldatenlied).
** (Harry Senger).
** (Harry Senger).
**
** (Hermann Schultze-Buch).
** (M.: Gutkind, T.: Willy Hagen).
**
**
** (from the operetta ) (Jean Gilbert).
** (M.: Otto Erich Lindner, T.: Alexander Tyrkowski).
** (Niklas-Kempner).
** (Ludwig Mendelssohn).
** (Hermann Schultze-Buch).
** (Ludwig Mendelssohn).
** (M.: Ehrlich, T.: Alexander Tyrkowski).
**
** (before 1914)
** (before 1914)
* 1914:
**
**
** with Karl Gessner) (Walter Kollo).
** with Karl Gessner) (Walter Kollo).
** (around 1914)
* 1915:
** (M.: Jean Gilbert, T.: Walter Turzinsky).
** (M.: Jean Gilbert, T.: Walter Turzinsky).
** (T.: Claire Waldoff).
**
* 1916:
* (Bromme).
* (Leander).
* (Ludwig Mendelssohn).
* (Konrad Scherber).
* (Willy Prager).
* (Hartmann).
* ... (1917–1932)
* 1933:
* (or, ) (M.: Erwin Strauss, T.: Käthe Huldschinsky).
* (M.: Claus Clauberg, T.: Erich Kersten).
* (M.: Claus Clauberg, T.: Erich Kersten).
* (M.: Claus Clauberg, T.: Erich Kersten).
* (M.: Mac Rauls, T.: Erich Kersten).
* (M.: Mac Rauls, T.: Willy Hagen).
* (or, ) (M.: Alex Stone and Walter Borchert, T.: Alex Stone and Friedrich Schwarz).
* (M.: Mac Rauls, T.: Erich Kersten).
* (M.: Werner Schütte, T.: Erich Kersten and Koenigsborn).
* (or, ) (M.: Werner Schütte, T.: Erich Kersten and Koenigsborn).

Recordings

''Claire Waldoff Die Königin der Kleinkunst'' Folge 1 und 2; Membran Music documents 2005 (Distribution Grosser und Stein) Folge 1: , EAN 4011222232267, Folge 2: , EAN 4011222232274. Two digipack in book format (14 x 25 cm), each containing a 20 page booklet and 4 CDs with 77 tracks spanning from 1910 to 1951 (one unpublished recording), however not all of the tracks could be dated. The 154 recordings in this edition are at present the most comprehensive compilation of her musical work.

Books by Waldoff

* Claire Waldoff: ''Weeste noch ...! Aus meinen Erinnerungen''. Progress-Verlag, Düsseldorf/Munich 1953; new edition: ''„Weeste noch ...?“ Erinnerungen und Dokumente''. Parthas, Berlin 1997,

Literature

* Helga Bemmann: ''Wer schmeißt denn da mit Lehm''. Eine Claire-Waldoff-Biographie. VEB Lied der Zeit, Berlin Ost 984? new edition: Claire Waldoff. ''„Wer schmeißt denn da mit Lehm?“'' Ullstein, Frankfurt/Berlin 1994,
* Maegie Koreen: ''Immer feste druff. Das freche Leben der Kabarettkönigin Claire Waldoff''. Droste, Düsseldorf 1997,

References

External links

Literature about Claire Waldoff
in German National Library

Biography about Claire Waldoff

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waldoff, Claire
1884 births
1957 deaths
German cabaret singers
German-language singers
Lesbian singers
People from Gelsenkirchen
People from the Province of Westphalia
German lesbian musicians
German LGBTQ singers
20th-century German LGBTQ people
20th-century German women singers