Sold-out Mariemont event screens only three surviving films of silent star Theda Bara

The Mariemont Theatre will host a sold-out tribute to silent-film actress Theda Bara on Saturday, Oct. 24.

Bara, born Theodosia Goodman in Avondale on July 29, 1885, was marketed by studios as an Arab princess and a dangerous seductress. Her real background was far more modest. She was the daughter of a Jewish tailor and a Swiss mother, and she described herself as a nice Jewish girl from Cincinnati. After attending Walnut Hills High School and the University of Cincinnati, she moved to New York City to begin her acting career.

From 1914 to 1919, Bara appeared in 40 films. These titles included Cleopatra, East Lynne, and The Serpent. Her career effectively ended in 1919, before her 35th birthday, though she returned for two pictures in the mid-1920s. A fire at Fox Studios in 1937 destroyed the majority of her body of work. Only three of her films remain in existence.

Nadya Ellerhorst, producer of the public television series The Art Show, called Bara a fascinating local figure. Ellerhorst also produced and directed an eight-minute film titled Theda Bara's Memoirs. The Saturday program will show that short film alongside A Fool There Was. A panel discussion will follow the screenings. The panel will include Dr. Jennifer Glaser, an associate professor at the University of Cincinnati, Brian Powers of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library, and Ellerhorst. The event will also feature a costume contest.

The eight-minute documentary is available online. It has received 50,000 views on YouTube since May 2025. The film includes clips from four of Bara's movies and references a 450-page unpublished biography held in the University of Cincinnati Archives. The biography provides a detailed account of her life and career.

Bara married film director Charles Brabin in 1921. She lived in a Spanish-style house at Victory Parkway and Ledgewood Drive. Xavier University purchased the property from a different owner in 1979 and used it for its Honors College. The university demolished the house in 2011.

Bara died of abdominal cancer in Los Angeles in 1955 at age 69. The Mariemont event represents a final public gathering to view her surviving work in a dedicated theatrical setting.