Three Surviving Prints Define Theda Bara's Legacy as Cincinnati Sells Out Tribute

A 1937 fire at Fox Studios destroyed the majority of Theda Bara's film output, leaving only three of her 40 movies in existence. This loss defines the scope of the tribute scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Mariemont Theatre in Cincinnati, where organizers have sold out the evening to honor the actress who became a national icon from her hometown.

Bara, born Theodosia Goodman on July 29, 1885, at 823 Hutchins Ave., spent her early years in Avondale before moving to New York City to pursue acting. She attended Walnut Hills High School and the University of Cincinnati. Studio publicists crafted a fictional persona for her, billing her as an Arab princess and claiming her name was an anagram for "Arab Death." In her own account, she described herself as a nice Jewish girl from Cincinnati, the daughter of a Jewish tailor and a Swiss mother.

Between 1914 and 1919, Bara appeared in 40 films, including The Stain, A Fool There Was, and Cleopatra. Nadya Ellerhorst, a producer for The Art Show series on WCET-TV and WPTD-TV, noted that Bara remains a fascinating local figure. Ellerhorst also serves as the producer and director of Theda Bara's Memoirs, an eight-minute documentary that will be screened alongside A Fool There Was during the event.

The program includes a panel discussion featuring Dr. Jennifer Glaser, an associate professor and Bara historian at the University of Cincinnati; Brian Powers, a historian with the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library; and Ellerhorst. The evening also features a costume contest, timed one week before Halloween. Those unable to attend can watch Theda Bara's Memoirs online, which has accumulated 50,000 views on YouTube since May 2025.

The documentary details a 450-page typed biography held in the University of Cincinnati Archives and Rare Book Library. It includes excerpts from A Fool There Was, East Lynne, The Unchastened Woman, and Cleopatra. Bara's primary film career ended in 1919 before she turned 35. She returned to the screen briefly for two films in 1925 and 1926, The Unchastened Woman and Madame Mystery.

Bara married film director Charles Brabin in 1921. Xavier University acquired her former home at Victory Parkway and Ledgewood Drive in 1979 from a different owner. The university used the Spanish-style house as the Villa for its Honors College before demolishing it in 2011. Bara died of abdominal cancer in Los Angeles in 1955 at age 69.