Three Films Remain After Fire
A sold-out event at Mariemont Theatre screens the only surviving works of Cincinnati native Theda Bara, whose career was largely destroyed by a 1937 blaze.
By Ken Adams ·
The Mariemont Theatre in Cincinnati sold out for a special screening on Saturday, October 24, dedicated to the life and work of silent film actress Theda Bara. The event marks a local tribute to an actress who became one of the biggest stars of the silent screen for approximately five years.
Bara was born Theodosia Goodman on July 29, 1885, at 823 Hutchins Ave. in Avondale. She was the daughter of a Jewish tailor and a Swiss mother. After attending Walnut Hills High School and spending two years at the University of Cincinnati, she moved to New York City to pursue acting. Studio publicists constructed a fictional narrative, billing her as an Arab princess and noting that her name was an anagram for "Arab Death." Bara described herself simply as "a nice Jewish girl from Cincinnati."
Between 1914 and 1919, Bara appeared in 40 films. Her credits include The Stain, A Fool There Was, The Devil's Daughter, The Serpent, East Lynne, Romeo and Juliet, Cleopatra, The She Devil, and The Siren's Song. Nadya Ellerhorst, producer of The Art Show series on WCET-TV and WPTD-TV, called Bara "a truly fascinating Cincinnati figure."
The Saturday program screens Theda Bara's Memoirs, an eight-minute documentary produced and directed by Ellerhorst, alongside the feature film A Fool There Was. A panel discussion follows the screening, featuring Dr. Jennifer Glaser, an associate professor and Bara historian at the University of Cincinnati, and Brian Powers, a historian with the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library. Ellerhorst also participates in the discussion. The evening includes a costume contest, timed with the upcoming Halloween holiday.
The survival rate of Bara's filmography is low. Only three of her films remain. The rest were lost in a 1937 fire at Fox Studios. Her primary career ended in 1919, before she turned 35. She returned to the screen five years later for two films, The Unchastened Woman in 1925 and Madame Mystery in 1926.
Those without tickets can watch Theda Bara's Memoirs online. The film has received 50,000 views on YouTube since May 2025, following its broadcast on Channels 48 and 16. The documentary includes excerpts from A Fool There Was, East Lynne, The Unchastened Woman, and Cleopatra. It also details a 450-page typed, unpublished biography held in the University of Cincinnati Archives and Rare Book Library.
Bara married film director Charles Brabin in 1921. Xavier University acquired her former home at Victory Parkway and Ledgewood Drive from a different owner in 1979. The university used the Spanish-style house for its Honors College and other purposes before demolishing it in 2011. Bara died of abdominal cancer in Los Angeles in 1955 at age 69.
Source: WVXU Cincinnati Public Radio
