Theda Bara (July 29, 1885 – April 13, 1955), born
Theodosia Burr Goodman, was an American
silent film actress. Bara was one of the most popular screen actresses of her era, and was one of cinema's earliest
sex symbols. Her
femme fatale roles earned her the nickname "The Vamp" (short for
vampire). The term "
vamp" soon became a popular
slang term for a sexually predatory woman. Bara, along with Broadway turned film actress
Valeska Suratt, and the French film actress
Musidora, popularized the vamp persona in the early years of silent film and was soon imitated by rival actresses such as
Louise Glaum,
Nita Naldi and
Pola Negri.
Birth
Theodosia Burr Goodman was born in 1885 in the Avondale section of
Cincinnati,
Ohio. Her father was Bernard Goodman (1853–1936),
[New York Times] a prosperous
Jewish tailor born in
Poland. Her mother, Pauline Louise de Coppett (1861–1957), was born in
Switzerland and was also Jewish. Bernard and Pauline married in 1882.
Theda's brother and sister were Marque (1888–1954)
["Marque Bara", Newport Daily News (Newport, Rhode Island), April 26, 1954, p. 2.] and Esther (1897–1965),
who also became a film actress under the name
Lori Bara and married Francis W. Getty of London in 1920.
