Theda Bara

Theda Bara was the stage name of Theodosia Goodman (1885 or 1890 - 7 April 1955), a silent film actress. Bara is Arab spelled backwards. Theda is an anagram of "death."

Bara was one of the most popular screen actresses of the time. The was nicknamed "The Vamp", short for vampire, slang for a sexy predatory woman at the time.

Theodosia Burr Goodman was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. She worked in theater productions, moving to New York City in 1908.

Theda Bara made more than 40 feature films between 1914 and 1926 of which complete prints of only three still exist.

Bara was a sex symbol of the era, and in a number of her films appeared in risque costumes. Such costumes were no longer allowed in Hollywood films after the Hays Code went into effect a few years later, which may have been a factor in the loss of some of her films, which could no longer be commercially shown in the United States.

Theda Bara retired in 1926. She died of cancer in Los Angeles, California.

External Links

• Biography at monash.edu.au (http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~pringle/silent/ssotm/May96/)
• Internet Movie Data Base entry (http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?Bara,+Theda)
• Theda Bara photo galleries at SilentLadies.com (http://silentladies.com/PBara.html)