Claire Waldoff (born Clara Wortmann, Gelsenkirchen, Germany, 21 October 1884 – 22 January 1957) was a renowned German cabaret singer and entertainer in Berlin during the 1910s and 1920s. Wortmann was the eleventh of 16 children. Her parents owned a tavern in Gelsenkirchen. After completing her schooling, she studied theatre and adopted the pseudonym Claire Waldoff. In 1903, she secured her first theatre roles in Bad Pyrmont and Kattowitz. In 1907, she moved to Berlin, where she performed at the Figaro-Theater on Kurfürstendamm and began working as a cabaret singer. Rudolf Nelson hired her at the theatre Roland von Berlin on Potsdamer Straße. Over the next several years, she achieved great success in German cabaret, performing at venues such as the Chat Noir on Friedrichstraße and the Linden-Cabaret on Unter den Linden. Waldoff was particularly famous for singing in a distinctive Berliner slang. Her success peaked in the 1920s when she performed at Berlin's leading variety theatres, Scala and Wintergarten, collaborated with Marlene Dietrich, and had her songs broadcast on the radio. Her repertoire included approximately 300 original songs. Waldoff lived with Olga von Roeder, and the couple enjoyed a happy life in 1920s Berlin. They often met other lesbian friends at the Damenklub Pyramide, a club in the city. However, after the Nazis rose to power in 1933, Waldoff's career declined. In 1939, she and Olga von Roeder left Berlin and relocated to Bayerisch Gmain. Following World War II, Waldoff lost her savings during the German monetary reform of 1948. In 1953, she published her autobiography, and in 1954, she received financial support from the Berlin Senate. Waldoff was buried in the Pragfriedhof cemetery in Stuttgart after her death. She is honoured with a star on the Walk of Fame of Cabaret. <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Claire+Waldoff">Read more on Last.fm</a>. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.