Klári Tolnay, born Rózsi Tolnay, was a Hungarian actress, born on July 17, 1914, in Budapest, as the daughter of István Tolnay and Eleonóra Siess. She spent her childhood in the small village of Mohora, located in Nógrád county, on the estate of her father. After completing elementary school there, she continued her secondary education in Balassagyarmat, followed by two years at the Institutum Beatae Mariae Virginis school in Nyíregyháza, and eventually finishing high school at the School of Business in Debrecen.
Klári's passion for singing and playing music began in her childhood, and she was encouraged by newspaper editor János Bókay to audition for prominent actors of the time, including Gábor Rajnai, Jenő Heltai, and Sándor Hevesi. Although these early attempts were not successful, she was later mentored by Béla Gaál, which marked the beginning of her career as a film actress at the Hunnia Film Studio.
Her first notable role was in the film "Meseautó", after which she was hired by the Vígszínház theatre in 1934 to perform smaller roles. In 1936, she married director Ákos Ráthonyi, and four years later, she gave birth to their daughter, Zsuzsanna. Following World War II, Ákos Ráthonyi left Hungary, and their daughter followed after the 1956 revolution.
In 1946-7, Klári left the Vígszínház theatre and joined the Művész Theatre, where she met Iván Darvas, whom she later married, but divorced in 1958. In 1947, she was appointed as the co-manager of the Vígszínház theatre, along with Gyula Benkő and István Somló, and played a major role in restoring the institution to its pre-war glory. After the theatre was disbanded by the government in 1950, she joined the Madách Theatre, where she worked until her death on October 27, 1998.
