Who is Theda Bara?
Theda Bara was a film actress of the silent era, nicknamed “The Vamp.” She was one of the first movie stars and inspired many imitators in the early years of cinema. Theda Bara is one of the only movie stars never to have appeared in a sound film, and unfortunately, she has the highest percentage of lost films of anyone with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Theda Bara was born Theodesia Burr Goodman on 29 July 1885 in Cincinnati, Ohio to European Jewish parents. The oldest of three children, she attended Walnut Hills High School and the University of Cincinnati before turning her attention to the stage. In 1908, Theda Bara moved to New York City and began her acting career. Her first Broadway role was in The Devil (1908). Six years later, she made her film debut in The Stain, one of her few remaining films. Theda Bara first portrayed “The Vamp,” a predatory femme fatale that she would come to personify, in her second film, A Fool There Was. This film is also extant and can be found
