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Theda Bara ( ; born Theodosia Burr Goodman; July 29, 1885 – April 7, 1955) was an American
silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...
and stage actress. Bara was one of the more popular actresses of the silent era and one of cinema's early sex symbols. Her
femme fatale A ( , ; ), sometimes called a maneater, Mata Hari, or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and Seduction, seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype ...
roles earned her the nickname "The Vamp" (short for ''vampire'', here meaning a seductive woman), later fueling the rising popularity in "vamp" roles based in
exoticism Exoticism (from ''exotic'') is the style or traits considered characteristic of a distant foreign country. In art and design it is a trend where creators become fascinated with ideas and styles from distant regions and draw inspiration from them. ...
and sexual domination. Born to a Jewish family in Cincinnati, Bara was the biggest star of Fox Studios, which concocted a fictitious persona for her as an Egyptian-born woman interested in the occult. She made more than 40 films between 1914 and 1926, most of which were lost in the
1937 Fox vault fire A major fire occurred in a 20th Century-Fox film-storage facility in Little Ferry, New Jersey, United States on July 9, 1937. Flammable nitrate film had previously contributed to several fires in film-industry laboratories, studios and vaults ...
. She left Fox in 1919 and was unable to recapture her previous success. After her marriage to
Charles Brabin Charles Brabin (April 17, 1882 – November 3, 1957) was a British-American film director. Biography Born in Liverpool, England, he was educated at St. Francis Xavier's College (Liverpool), St. Francis Xavier College. Brabin sailed to New Yor ...
in 1921, she made two more films and then retired from acting in 1926. Bara never appeared in any
sound film A sound film is a Film, motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, bu ...
s.


Early life

Bara was born Theodosia Burr Goodman on July 29, 1885, in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was named after the daughter of U.S. Vice President
Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician, businessman, lawyer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805 d ...
. Her father was Bernard Goodman (1853–1936),Alt URL
/ref> a prosperous
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
tailor from
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. Her mother, Pauline Louise Françoise ( de Coppett; 1861–1957), was born in
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. Bernard and Pauline married in 1882. Theda had two younger siblings: Marque (1888–1954) and Esther (1897–1965), who went by the nickname "Lori". In 1890 the family moved to Avondale, a Cincinnati suburb with a substantial Jewish community. Bara attended
Walnut Hills High School Walnut Hills High School is a public college-preparatory high school in Cincinnati, Ohio. Operated by Cincinnati Public Schools, it houses grades seven through twelve. The school was established in 1895 and has occupied its current building s ...
, graduating in 1903. After attending the
University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...
for two years, she worked mainly in local theater productions, but did explore other projects. After moving to New York City in 1908, she made her Broadway debut the same year in ''The Devil''.


Career

Most of Bara's early films were shot along the East Coast, where the film industry was based, primarily at Fox Studios in
Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a Borough (New Jersey), borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop The Palisades (Hudson River), The Palisades. As of the 2020 Uni ...
. She lived with her family in New York City. The rise of Hollywood as the center of the American film industry forced her to move to Los Angeles to film the epic ''
Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...
'' (1917), which became one of her biggest hits. No complete prints of ''Cleopatra'' are known to exist today, but numerous photographs of her in costume as Cleopatra have survived. Bara was the Fox studio's biggest star between 1915 and 1919, but tired of being typecast as a vamp, she allowed her five-year contract with the company to expire. Her final Fox film was ''The Lure of Ambition'' (1919). In 1920, she turned briefly to the stage, appearing on Broadway in '' The Blue Flame''. Bara's fame drew large crowds to the theater, but her acting was savaged by critics. Her career suffered without Fox Studios' support, and she did not make another film until '' The Unchastened Woman'' (1925) for Chadwick Pictures. She retired after making only one more film, the short comedy '' Madame Mystery'' (1926), directed by
Stan Laurel Stan Laurel ( ; born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, director and writer who was in the comedy double act, duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 107 sh ...
for
Hal Roach Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr. Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director and screenwriter, ...
; in this, Bara parodied her vamp image. At the height of her fame, Bara earned $4,000 per week (). Her better-known roles were as the "vamp", although she attempted to avoid typecasting by playing wholesome heroines in films such as ''Under Two Flags'' and ''Her Double Life''. She appeared as Juliet in a version of
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's ''
Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...
''. Although Bara took her craft seriously, she was too successful playing exotic wanton women to develop a more versatile career.


Image and name

The origin of Bara's stage name is disputed. ''The Guinness Book of Movie Facts and Feats'' says it came from director
Frank Powell Francis William Powell (May 8, 1877 – ?) was a Canadian-born American stage and silent film actor, director, Film producer, producer, and screenwriter who worked predominantly in the United States."Ontario Births, 1869-1912", digital copy of ...
, who learned Theda had a relative named Baranger, and that Theda was a childhood nickname. In promoting the 1917 film ''
Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...
'', Fox Studio publicists noted that the name was an anagram of ''Arab death'', and her press agents, to enhance her exotic appeal to moviegoers, falsely promoted the young Ohio native as "the daughter of an Arab sheik and a French woman, born in the
Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...
". In 1917, the Goodman family legally changed its surname to Bara.


Personal

Bara was known for wearing very revealing costumes in her films. It was popular at that time to promote an actress as mysterious, with an exotic background. The studios promoted Bara with a massive publicity campaign, billing her as the Egyptian-born daughter of a French actress and an Italian sculptor. They claimed she had spent her early years in the Sahara desert under the shadow of the
Sphinx A sphinx ( ; , ; or sphinges ) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. In Culture of Greece, Greek tradition, the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, th ...
, then moved to France to become a stage actress. (In fact, Bara never had been to Egypt, and her time in France amounted to just a few months.) A 2016 book by Joan Craig and Beverly F. Stout chronicles many personal, first-hand accounts of the lives of Bara and her husband
Charles Brabin Charles Brabin (April 17, 1882 – November 3, 1957) was a British-American film director. Biography Born in Liverpool, England, he was educated at St. Francis Xavier's College (Liverpool), St. Francis Xavier College. Brabin sailed to New Yor ...
.


Marriage and retirement

Bara married British-born American film director
Charles Brabin Charles Brabin (April 17, 1882 – November 3, 1957) was a British-American film director. Biography Born in Liverpool, England, he was educated at St. Francis Xavier's College (Liverpool), St. Francis Xavier College. Brabin sailed to New Yor ...
in 1921. They honeymooned at The Pines Hotel in Digby, Nova Scotia, Canada, and later purchased a property down the coast from Digby at Harbourville, Nova Scotia, overlooking the
Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy () is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its tidal range is the highest in the world. The bay was ...
, eventually building a summer home they called Baranook. They had no children. Bara also owned and often enjoyed extended stays in a villa-style home in Cincinnati. The villa was later bought by Xavier University, which used the house as a residence for nuns, and then the "honors villa" for students. The house was demolished in July 2011. In 1936, she appeared on ''
Lux Radio Theatre ''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a old-time radio, classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the Blue Network, NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of A ...
'' during a broadcast version of ''
The Thin Man ''The Thin Man'' (1934) is a detective novel by Dashiell Hammett, originally published in a condensed version in the December 1933 issue of '' Redbook''. It appeared in book form the following month. A film series followed, featuring the main ...
'' with
William Powell William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was an American actor, known primarily for his film career. Under contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the ''The Thin Man (film), Thin M ...
and
Myrna Loy Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. As a performer, she was known for her ability to adapt to her screen partner's acting style. Born in Helena, Monta ...
. She did not appear in the play but instead announced her plans to make a movie comeback, which never materialized. She appeared on radio again in 1939 as a guest on '' Texaco Star Theatre''. In 1949, producer
Buddy DeSylva George Gard "Buddy" DeSylva (January 27, 1895 – July 11, 1950) was an American songwriter, film producer and record executive. He wrote or co-wrote many popular songs, and along with Johnny Mercer and Glenn Wallichs, he co-founded Capitol R ...
and
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...
expressed interest in making a movie of Bara's life, to star
Betty Hutton Betty Hutton (born Elizabeth June Thornburg; February 26, 1921 – March 12, 2007) was an American stage, film, and television actress, comedian, dancer, and singer. She rose to fame in the 1940s as a contract player for Paramount Pictures, appea ...
, but the project never materialized.


Death

On April 7, 1955, after a lengthy stay at California Lutheran Hospital in Los Angeles, Bara died of stomach cancer. She was survived by her husband, her mother, and her younger sister, Lori. She was cremated at Chapel of the Pines (disputed), and her remains were inurned under the name Theda Bara Brabin in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California). Bara bequeathed $100,000 to her sister, $8,000 to her husband, and $1,000 to her sister-in-law.


Legacy

Bara often is cited as the first sex symbol of the film era. For her contributions to the film industry, Bara received a motion pictures star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...
in 1960. Her star is located at 6307 Hollywood Boulevard, and is shown in the film '' MaXXXine''. Bara never appeared in a sound film, lost or otherwise. A 1937 fire at Fox's nitrate film storage vaults in New Jersey destroyed most of that studio's silent films. Bara made more than 40 films between 1914 and 1926, but complete prints of only six still exist: '' The Stain'' (1914), '' A Fool There Was'' (1915), '' East Lynne'' (1916), '' The Unchastened Woman'' (1925), and two short comedies for
Hal Roach Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr. Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director and screenwriter, ...
. In addition to these, a few of her films remain in fragments, including ''Cleopatra'' (less than a minute of footage), a clip thought to be from ''The Soul of Buddha'', and a few other unidentified clips featured in the documentary ''Theda Bara et William Fox'' (2001). Most of the clips can be seen in the documentary ''The Woman with the Hungry Eyes'' (2006). Additional footage has been found which shows her behind the scenes on a picture. While the hairstyle has led some to theorize that this may be from '' The Lure of Ambition'', this has not been confirmed. Small fragments from '' Salomé'' were discovered in 2021 by an intern at Filmoteca Española. In 2023, additional footage from ''Cleopatra'' was found in a toy projector purchased on ebay. As to vamping, critics stated that her portrayal of calculating, cold-hearted women was morally instructive to men. Bara responded, "I will continue doing vampires as long as people sin." In 1994, she was honored with her image on a U.S. postage stamp designed by caricaturist
Al Hirschfeld Albert Hirschfeld (June 21, 1903 – January 20, 2003) was an American caricaturist best known for his black and white portraits of celebrities and Broadway stars. Early life and career Al Hirschfeld was born in 1903 in a two-story duplex apa ...
. The Fort Lee Film Commission dedicated Main Street and Linwood Avenue in Fort Lee, New Jersey, as "Theda Bara Way" in May 2006 to honor Bara, who made many of her films at the Fox Studio on Linwood and Main. Over a period of several years, filmmaker and film historian Phillip Dye reconstructed ''Cleopatra'' on video. Titled ''Lost Cleopatra'', the full-length feature was created by editing together production-still picture montages combined with the surviving film clip. The script was based on the original scenario, with modifications derived from research into censorship reports, reviews of the film, and synopses from period magazines. Dye screened the film at the Hollywood Heritage Museum on February 8, 2017.


Filmography


Cultural references

* The short piano suite ''Silhouettes from the Screen'', Op. 55 (1919) by Mortimer Wilson includes a miniature musical portrait of Theda Bara, who is portrayed in an atonal, expressionistic style. * Bara is referenced in the 1921
Bert Kalmar Bert Kalmar (February 10, 1884 – September 18, 1947) was an American songwriter. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. He was also a screenwriter. Biography Kalmar, a native of New York City, left school at an early age an ...
/
Harry Ruby Harry Rubenstein (January 27, 1895 – February 23, 1974), known professionally as Harry Ruby, was an American pianist, composer, songwriter and screenwriter, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.Rebecca Came Back from Mecca" as well as their 1922 "Sheik From Avenue B", sung by
Fanny Brice Fania Borach (October 29, 1891 – May 29, 1951), known professionally as Fanny Brice or Fannie Brice, was an American comedian, Illustrated Songs, illustrated song model, singer, and actress who made many stage, radio, and film appearances. Sh ...
. * Bara was one of three actresses ( Pola Negri and
Mae Murray Mae Murray (born Marie Adrienne Koenig; May 10, 1885 – March 23, 1965) was an American actress, dancer, film producer, and screenwriter. Murray rose to fame during the silent film era and was known as "The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips" and "Th ...
were the others) whose eyes were combined to form the
Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...
's logo, a stark, black and white close up of the composite eyes set as repeated frames in a strip of film. * The ''
International Times ''International Times'' (''it'' or ''IT'') is the name of various Underground press, underground newspapers, with the original title founded in London in 1966 and running until October 1973. Editors included John Hopkins (p ...
'' logo is a black-and-white image of Theda Bara. The founders' intention had been to use an image of actress
Clara Bow Clara Gordon Bow (; July 29, 1905 – September 27, 1965) was an American actress who rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to "talkies" in 1929. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the ...
, 1920s " It girl", but a picture of Theda Bara was used by accident, and once deployed, not changed. * During a scene from 2004 film ''The Aviator'' when Howard Hughes and Glenn Odekirk are trying to create the H-1 Racer, Odekirk remarks, "Yeah, well, I want a date with Theda Bara, but that ain't gonna happen either." * Bara, as well as the lost film ''Cleopatra'', are referenced extensively in the romance novel Nevaeh Smiled by SPW Mitchell as the muse for costume designer Rainier. * There are multiple references to Bara in the ''X'' film series. In the 2022 film ''Pearl'', the titular character, portrayed by Mia Goth, feeds an alligator that she has named Theda. In the 2024 film '' MaXXXine'', the titular character, also portrayed by Goth, is seen putting out her cigarette on the Theda Bara
Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...
star. * Bara is a central figure in the play ''On Set with Theda Bara'', written by Joey Merlo, directed by Jack Serio, and performed by David Greenspan at the Brick Theater in New York in 2024. * Bara is featured as the main cover of the Lumineers album Cleopatra, as she was photographed as Cleopatra.


Notes


References


Works cited

* * *


Further reading

* ''Shakespeare on Silent Film: An Excellent Dumb Discourse'' by Judith Buchanan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Chapter 6. . * ''Famous Juliets'' by Jerome Hart, in ''Motion Picture Classic'', March 1923. * ''A Million and One Nights'' by Terry Ramsaye. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1926. * * * *


External links

Photos
Theda Bara
photo gallery NY Public Library collection
movie theater marquee in Jacksonville, FL: ''She Loved too Late'', starring Theda Bara
Magazines
The 1917 review of ''Tiger Woman'' starring Theda Bara
from ''The Atlanta Georgian''
''The Ex-Vampire'' by Theda Bara
''Vanity Fair'' magazine, October, 1919 Biography
"Theda Bara"
entry in ''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia''


"Theda Bara" Biography
at monash.edu.au
Metadata Metadata (or metainformation) is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data itself, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including: * Descriptive ...
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bara, Theda 1885 births 1955 deaths 20th-century American actresses 20th Century Studios contract players 20th-century American Jews Actresses from Cincinnati American people of Polish-Jewish descent American people of Swiss descent American radio actresses American silent film actresses American stage actresses Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Deaths from stomach cancer in California University of Cincinnati alumni Jewish American actresses Walnut Hills High School alumni