Theda Bara
(1885-1955)
Theda Bara was a Jewish American silent film and stage actress.
Hollywood's first and most notorious Vixen, Theda
Bara became synonymous with exoticism. She was alluring and unusual,
a wide-eyed siren, a gold digger...and eternal Vamp. In fours years
(1915 - 1919), Theda vamped her way through 39 films and millions of
dollars for Fox Studios. The studio built her up with such a tremendous
publicity campaign, that when they pulled the rug out from under her
in 1919, her career fell so far, that she was unable to revive it. Pre-World
War I's film-going audiences were presented with Foxs' version of their
starlets mysterious and elusive upbringing by proclaiming she was born
of an Italian artist and an Arabian princess and that her first name
was an anagram spelling "death" and her last name spelled
backwards was Arab. They claimed her mystique was the result of being
born in the Sahara desert in the shadow of a sphinx. They further stated
her mother left the family to become a well-known actress on the European
stage and that Theda was brought up by her multitalented father. The
story continued on that she was sent to Europe to be trained for the
stage where she became a popular Parisian stage actress who played the
most renowned theatres of the time. The general public ate it up and
her agent's continued to create her persona as their "Serpent of
the Nile".
In reality, she was born Theodosia Goodman in Cincinnati,
OH on July 29, 1885. She was a blonde haired girl born of a Jewish tailor
and a Swiss mother. Upon graduating from high school she followed her
dreams of becoming an actresses. She dyed her hair black, adopted exotic
makeup and a wardrobe to match. Her first stage performance was of a
cast member for Molnar's The Devil, which opened in New York City on
August 18, 1908. She continued to play the stage and in 1914, on making
her usual round of casting calls, she met up with Frank Powell, a new
film director for William Fox. He was so impressed by her potential
he immediately cast her in his film, The Stain, but she was so far way
in the background as an extra she was not recognizable. Powell, pleased
with her ability to take direction, convinced Fox to let her star in
his next film, A Fool There Was. Although Theda swore she would never
play such an "unvirtuous and daring" role, it proved to be
her lucky break. Although well known in theatrical circles for her high-strung
ambition and fascination with spiritualism her abilities as an actress
were never overly praised. Powell and Theda devised her new name Theda,
a shortened version of Theodosia and Bara being extracted from the middle
name of her Swiss grandfather, Francois Bar[r]anger de Coppet. Even
before the release of A Fool There Was, Fox had his crackerjack publicists
concoct an alluring past for their newest discovery. After all, they
were paying her $150.00 a week and they wanted to make a good return
on their investment. Fox did just that, and in doing so, created the
first truly fabricated screen star.
A Fool There Was was a box office success, making Theda
and instant star and paving a path for Fox's impressive new film company.
Aside from "creating" this new starlet, Fox introduced a new
stereotype to the burgeoning film industry...the Vamp(ire) woman, who
mercilessly uses her feminine wiles to bring any man to subordination
and impoverishment. Furthermore, besides making more follow-ups for
his newest star, Fox hired second string vamps for less prestigious
rehashes of the vamp formula. The final line of A Fool There Was is
the stuff made of legends. Theda utters, "Kiss Me My Fool",
while scattering rose petals over the body of her lifeless lover as
to command him to wake from his eternal slumbers. Constantly being photographed
with snakes, skulls, crystal balls and opulent anything, she epitomized
a lavish evilness. She was described as "the wickedest face in
the world, dark-brooding, beautiful and heartless."
Strings of vamp films would follow, although contrary
to popular belief, she did not always play the wicked woman. Many of
her roles featured her as a virtuous maiden, who had been wronged. At
the height of her career in 1919, she was making films that cost $60,000
in production and she herself was earning over $4,000 dollars a week.
However, the post World War I culture backlashed on the very themes
they embraced before going to war and this upheaval into self-righteousness
did not fare well on Theda's films. With dwindling box office receipts
and wanting to break out of her vampish role, she demanded a raise of
$5000.00 a week. Fox, unwillingly to catch a falling star, dropped her
contract. Over the course of the next few years, Theda returned to the
stage, where critics panned her. She married Charles Brabin in 1921
and she returned to California, so that he could direct films and she
could live in retirement. In the mid 20's she attempted two more comebacks
with Unchastened Woman and Madame Mystery, but neither would return
her glory of years past. She attempted several more stage comebacks
in the thirties and even wrote a book called What Women Never Tell,
a memoir of her professional experiences, which to this day remains
unpublished.
Theda died of abdominal cancer on April 7, 1955, in
California Lutheran Hospital.
Sources: Wikipedia, Bombshells |