Daughter of the famous Munich puppeteer Josef Leonhard Schmid (known as "Papa Schmid", 1822-1912), Babette Klinger first worked as a florist and naturally assisted in the family business, before taking over from her father as director of the Münchner Marionettentheater in 1911. She headed up the theater until her death in 1930, despite the vicissitudes of the First World War and the post-war period in Germany. The theater survived her by only three years. She was also the author of a dozen plays.