Charlott Daudert

Born 27 Dec 1913 · Kaliningrad (Russia)

Whatever her limitations as an actress, Charlott Daudert made up for with wide-eyed effervescence and a cute, feisty personality. The bubbly blonde began working life as editor of the children's section of a newspaper (as 'Aunty Charlotte') in her home town of Königsberg, East Prussia. She also dabbled in drafting costume designs. The abandonment of her journalistic career seems to have come about all of a sudden and quite by accident: accompanying a friend to a theatrical audition as 'moral support' resulted in Charlotte, not the friend, being signed up for drama school. Her 'discovery' is generally credited to the renowned actor Max Pallenberg who took on the role of her mentor. Known by her peers as 'Charly', she made her debut in a minuscule part in Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" and spent the next three years at Tilsit's Stadttheater under Pallenberg's direction. Following a brief stint in local radio, she then moved on to wider canvases in Berlin where she underwent further tuition by Leopold Jessner. By 1933, Charly had developed into an accomplished comedienne and come to the attention of Trude Hesterberg. She began performing comedy routines and singing in various popular cabarets, including "Musenschaukel" and "Die Katakombe". At the same time, she spiced up the screen as perpetually naive, sexy friends of the heroine. Her output was rather heavily weighted to…