Just 3 Films Remain After 1937 Fire Destroyed Most of Theda Bara's Work
Cincinnati's Mariemont Theatre holds a sold-out tribute to the local silent star, featuring two of the only surviving prints and a new short documentary.
By Elena Greco ·
Only three of the 40 films made by Theda Bara still exist. The rest were lost in a 1937 fire at Fox Studios. Cincinnati will honor the actress on Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Mariemont Theatre, where every ticket for the evening has sold out.
The program features a screening of two of the surviving films, A Fool There Was and The Unchastened Woman. The event also includes a newly produced eight-minute documentary titled Theda Bara's Memoirs. That film explores her life and career through archival materials and interviews.
Nadya Ellerhorst, the producer of the documentary, calls Bara a fascinating local figure. Ellerhorst produced the film for the public television series The Art Show. She joins a panel of historians after the screenings. The group includes Dr. Jennifer Glaser from the University of Cincinnati and Brian Powers from the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library.
Bara was born Theodosia Goodman in Avondale in 1885. She grew up in a Jewish household and attended Walnut Hills High School. After two years at the University of Cincinnati, she moved to New York to act. Studios built a fictional persona around her, marketing her as an Arab princess named Bara, an anagram for Arab Death. Bara herself described the reality as being a nice Jewish girl from Cincinnati.
Her career peaked between 1914 and 1919. She appeared in titles such as Cleopatra, The Devil's Daughter, and Romeo and Juliet. She stepped away from the screen before turning 35. She returned in 1925 for two more films. The 1937 fire destroyed most of the physical prints of her earlier work, leaving only three known copies.
The Mariemont event includes a costume contest for the evening. Those who missed the live screening can watch Theda Bara's Memoirs online. The video has received 50,000 views on YouTube since May 2025. The documentary examines a 450-page unpublished biography held in the University of Cincinnati Archives.
Bara died in Los Angeles in 1955 at age 69. Her former home on Victory Parkway and Ledgewood Drive was purchased by Xavier University in 1979. The university used the Spanish-style house for its Honors College. They demolished the building in 2011.
Source: WVXU Cincinnati Public Radio
