fuckyeahfancyladies: Theda Bara exploded out of Hollywood in 1915, one of the world’s first ma

fuckyeahfancyladies: Theda Bara exploded out of Hollywood in 1915, one of the world’s first major sex symbols. According to the Hairpin: As the star of A Fool There Was, she embodied the cinematic “vamp” — the evil, predatory woman who seduces men with her dark ways, sucks him dry, and leaves him for ruin. Her name was no longer Theodosia Goodman, but Theda Bara — an anagram, naturally, for “ARAB DEATH.” Her mother was a French actress, her father was an Italian sculptor, yet she had been born “in the shadow of the Sphinx.” She dabbled in the Occult; she communed with dark spirits. She had been reincarnated several times and lunched on lettuce and raw beef. Girl even became her own verb: to pull a “ThedaBara” was to “seduce and destroy.” In reality, she was Theodosia Goodman, a Jewish actress from Cincinnati. But, truth be told, if we were from Cincinnati, we would probably put on a fake French accent and say we were born in the shadow of the Sphinx, too. -- source link

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