Profile of Theda Bara on Famous Like Me

Theda Bara was the stage name of Theodosia Burr Goodman (July 29, 1885 - 7 April 1955), a silent film actress. As her stage name is an anagram for "Arab Death" an urban legend claims that it was coined for that reason, but instead Theda is short for Theodosia, and Bara was the middle name of her maternal grandmother.

Bara was one of the most popular screen actresses of the time. She was nicknamed "The Vamp", short for vampire, slang for a sexy predatory woman at the time. Bara, along with the French film actress Musidora, popularized the vamp persona in the early years of Hollywood silent film and was soon imitated by rival actresses such as Nita Naldi and Pola Negri.

Birth

Theodosia Burr Goodman was born in 1885 in the Avondale section of Cincinnati. Her father was Bernard Goodman (1853-?) a Polish born Jewish merchant. Her mother, Pauline DeCoppett (1861-?), was born in Switzerland, and her parents had married in 1882. Theda achieved fame as a raven-haired vamp, she was actually born blonde. Theda had the following siblings: Mark Goodman (1888-?); and Lori [originally Estie] Goodman (1897-?). In 1917 all of them changed their names to "Bara".

Education

She attended Walnut Hills High School in 1899-1903 and lived at 823 Hutchins Avenue. After attending the University of Cincinnati for two years, she worked in theater productions, moving to New York City in 1908.

Hollywood

Briefly known professionally as Theodosia de Coppett, Theda Bara made more than 40 feature films between 1914 and 1926 of which complete prints of only three still exist. Most of these were made for William Fox, starting with "A Fool There Was" in 1914 and ending with "The Lure of Ambition" in 1919. Her films made Fox a successful studio. She made her Broadway debut in "The Devil" (1908), and her film debut was a bit part in "The Stain" (1914), directed by Frank Powell for Pathé Frères. A large portion of her films are now lost, to the regret of later generations of fans.

Sex symbol

Bara was a sex symbol of the era, and in a number of her films appeared in risqué transparent costumes that left little to the imagination. Such outfits were banned from Hollywood films after the Hays Code went into effect a few years later, which may have been a factor in declining interest in her films, which could no longer be commercially shown in the United States. At the height of her fame, however, her vamp image was notorious enough be refered to in various popular songs of the day. A line in "Red-Hot Hannah" said "I know things that Theda Bara's just startin' to learn - make my dresses from asbestos, I'm liable to burn...." "Rebecca Came Back From Mecca" contains the lyrics "She's as bold as Theda Bara; Theda's bare but Becky's bare-er".

Marriage

In 1926, five years after marrying British-born American film director Charles Brabin (1883-1957), Bara retired. Theda never attempted a "comeback." She was happy to leave Hollywood and the movies behind her. She spent the remainder of her life as a hostess in Hollywood and New York.

Death

She died of stomach cancer in 1955 in Los Angeles, California and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. She died under the name "Theda Bara Brabin" and her death certificate incorrectly listed her birthday as "July 22, 1892".

Legacy

Theda Bara has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and in 1994, she was honored with her image on a United States postage stamp designed by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld. In June 1996 two biographies appeared, Ron Genini's "Theda Bara: A Biography" (McFarland) and Eve Golden's "Vamp" (Emprise). In October 2005 TimeLine Films of Culver City premiered a film biography, "Theda Bara: She of the Hungry Eyes".

Filmography

1. The Stain (1914)
2. A Fool There Was (1915)
3. The Kreutzer Sonata (1915)
4. The Clemenceau Case (1915)
5. The Devil's Daughter (1915)
6. The Two Orphans (1915)
7. Lady Audley's Secret (1915)
8. Sin (1915)
9. Carmen (1915)
10. The Galley Slave (1915)
11. Destruction (1915)
12. Siren of Hell (1915)
13. The Serpent (1916)
14. Gold and the Woman (1916)
15. The Eternal Sappho (1916)
16. East Lynne (1916)
17. Under Two Flags (1916)
18. Her Eternal Life (1916)
19. Romeo and Juliet (1916)
20. The Vixen (1916)
21. The Tiger Woman (1917)
22. Her Greatest Love (1917)
23. Heart and Soul (1917)
24. Camille (1917)
25. Cleopatra (1917)
26. Madame Du Barry (1917)
27. The Rose of Blood (1917)
28. The Darling of Paris (1917)
29. The Forbidden Path (1918)
30. Salome (1918)
31. When a Woman Sins (1918)
32. Under the Yoke (1918)
33. The Soul of Buddha (1918)
34. The She Devil (1918)
35. The Light (1919)
36. A Woman There Was (1919)
37. Kathleen Mavourneen (1919)
38. La Belle Russe (1919)
39. When Men Desire (1919)
40. The Siren's Song (1919)
41. The Lure of Ambition (1919)
42. The Prince of Silence (1921)
43. The Unchastened Woman (1925)
44. Madame Mystery (1926)

Timeline

• 1885 Birth
• 1900 US Census in Ohio
• 1921 Marriage
• 1926 Retirement
• 1955 Death

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Theda Bara