Cincinnati screens only three surviving Theda Bara films

Cincinnati residents will gather at the Mariemont Theatre on Saturday, Oct. 24, for a sold-out program dedicated to Theda Bara. The event marks the life of a local actress who became a global icon during the silent era.

Bara, born Theodosia Goodman in Avondale on July 29, 1885, made 40 films between 1914 and 1919. She was marketed by studio publicists as a dangerous Arab princess, a persona that defined her career as the original screen vamp.

Her film output was extensive, including titles such as A Fool There Was and Cleopatra. Nadya Ellerhorst, producer of the documentary Theda Bara's Memoirs, describes Bara as a fascinating Cincinnati figure. The memoir, an eight-minute film, will be screened alongside A Fool There Was.

The program includes a panel discussion with Dr. Jennifer Glaser, a University of Cincinnati associate professor and Bara historian, and Brian Powers, a historian from the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library. Ellerhorst will also join the panel. A costume contest will take place during the evening.

Few of Bara's works remain for modern audiences to view. Only three of her films survive. The rest were lost in a fire at Fox Studios in 1937. Her primary acting career ended in 1919 before she turned 35, though she returned to the screen in the 1920s for The Unchastened Woman and Madame Mystery.

Bara’s personal history contrasts with her fictionalized public image. She was the daughter of a Jewish tailor and a Swiss mother. She attended Walnut Hills High School and the University of Cincinnati before moving to New York. She died of abdominal cancer in Los Angeles in 1955 at age 69.

Xavier University demolished Bara’s former home in 2011. The Spanish-style house at Victory Parkway and Ledgewood Drive served as the Villa for the Honors College after the university acquired it in 1979. The documentary Theda Bara's Memoirs has received 50,000 views on YouTube since May 2025.