Recent Syndics: Theodosia Goodman aka Theda Bara

(July 29, 1885 - April 13, 1955)

She appeared in many silent films with specific focus on the complete unfettered liberation not only of women socially, but mystically as well and made a lasting statement that women were sexually powerful in the full tantric sense of the phrase and that the dominant male aspect, by ujsing religious, cultural, and legal taboos were doing everything to prevent women from using this immense natural power in all its aspects simultaneously

After making motion pictures for about 10 years, her career was viciously attacked, she was basically blacklisted from all motion picture studios, and most of her films were destroyed.

It was not so much the roles that she actually played, but that she did played roles the roles that she did, that made her the first true visual image of Liberated Woman on a format that blends well with the various Kali Tantras.

Her known films include:

The Stain (Eclectic Film Co./Pathe-Freres, 1914) - Cast: Edward Jose, Thurlow Bergen, Virginia Pearson, Eleanor Woodruff and Samuel Ryan. Directed by Frank Powell.
Note: Theda appeared as an extra in this film under the name Theodosia deCoppett. Virginia Pearson and Theda would become screen rivals in the "vamp" genre in the coming years.

A Fool There Was (Fox, 1915) - Cast: Edward Jose, May Allison, Clifford Bruce, Mabel Fremyear, Victor Benoit, Runa Hodges, Mina Gale, Frank Powell and Creighton Hale. Directed by Frank Powell.
Note: Fox remade this in 1922 with Estelle Taylor as the vamp. As much as Theda felt wrongly typecast as a vamp, she took secret delight that the remake was a flop. One of Theda's four surviving films.

The Kreutzer Sonata (Fox, 1915) - Cast: Nance O'Neil, William E. Shay and Mimi Yvonne. Directed by Herbert Brenon.

The Clemenceau Case (Fox, 1915) - Cast: William E. Shay, Mrs. Allen Walker, Stuart Holmes, Jane Lee, Mrs. Cecil Raleigh, Frank Goldsmith and Sidney Shields. Directed by Herbert Brenon.

The Devil's Daughter (Fox, 1915) - Cast: Paul Doucet, Victor Benoit, Robert Wayne, Jane Lee, Doris Haywood, Jane Miller, Elaine Evans, Edouard Durad and Clifford Bruce. Directed by Frank Powell.

Lady Audley's Secret (Fox, 1915) - Cast: Clifford Bruce, William Riley Hatch, Stephen Gratten and Warner Richmond. Directed by Marshall Farnum.

The Two Orphans (Fox, 1915) - Cast: Jean Southern, William E. Shay, Herbert Brenon, Gertrude Berkley, Frank Goldsmith, E.L. Fernandez, Sheridan Block, Mrs. Cecil Raleigh and John Daley Murphy. Directed by Herbert Brenon. Note: This film was remade in 1921 by D.W. Griffith as Orphans of the Storm. It starred Lillian and Dorothy Gish.

Sin (Fox, 1915) - Cast: William E. Shay, Warner Oland, Mrs. Louise Rial and Henry Leone. Directed by Herbert Brenon.

Carmen (Fox, 1915) - Cast: Einar Linden, Carl Harbaugh, James A. Marcus, Elsie McCloud, Fay Tunis, Emil de Varney and Joesph P. Green. Directed by Raoul A. Walsh.

The Galley Slave (Fox, 1915) - Cast: Stuart Holmes, Claire Whitney, Lillian Lawrence, Jane Lee, Ben Hendricks, Hardee Kirklin, Henry Leone and A.H. Van Buren. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards.

Destruction (Fox, 1915) - Cast: Joseph Furney, Carlton Macey, Esther H. Hoier, Warner Oland, J. Herbert Frank, Frank Evans, Arthur Morrison, Gaston Bell, Master Tansey and J. Walker. Directed by Will S. Davis

The Serpent (Fox, 1916) - Cast: George Walsh, James Marcus, Lillian Hathaway, Charles Craig, Carl Harbaugh, Nan Carter, Marcel Morhange and Ben Nedell. Directed by Raoul A. Walsh.

Gold and the Woman (Fox, 1916) - Cast: H. Cooper Cliffe, Alma Hanlon, Harry Hilliard, Chief Black Eagle, Jude Hurley, Caroline Harris, Ted Griffin, Louis Stern, James Sheehan, Carlton Macey, Frank Whitson, Pauline Barry and Carter B. Harkness. Directed by James Vincent.

The Eternal Sapho (Fox, 1916) - Cast: Warner Oland, Frank Norcross, George MacQuarrie. Walter Lewis, Hattie Delano, James Cooley, Einar Linden, Mary Martin, Kittens Reichert and Caroline Harris. Directed by Bertram Bracken.

East Lynne (Fox, 1916) - Cast: Claire Whitney, Stuard Holmes, William H. Tooker, Stanhope Wheatcroft, Ben Deely, Eugenie Woodward, H.F. Hoffman, James O'Connor, Emily Fitzroy, Loel Stewart, Elden Stewart, Frank Norcross, Ethel Fleming, H. Evans and Velma Whitman. Directed by Bertram Bracken. Note: One of Theda's four surviving films.

Under Two Flags (Fox, 1916) - Cast: Herbert Heyes, Stuart Holmes, Stanhope Wheatcroft, Joseph Crehan, Charles Craig and Claire Whitney. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards. Note: This was Theda's favorite film role.

Her Double Life (Fox, 1916) - Cast: Stuart Holmes, A.H. Van Buren, Walter Law, Madeleine Le Nard, Carey Lee, Katherine Lee, Lucia Moore, Franklin Hanna and Jane Lee. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards.

Romeo and Juliet (Fox, 1916) - Cast: Harry Hilliard, Glen White, Walter Law, John Webb Dillon, Einar Linden, Edwin Eaton, Edwin Holt, Alice Gale, Victory Bateman, Helen Tracy, Jane Lee and Katherine Lee. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards.

The Vixen (Fox, 1916) - Cast: Mary Martin, A.H. Van Buren, Herbert Heyes, George Clarke, Carl Gerard, George Odell, Jane Lee and Katherine Lee. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards.

The Darling of Paris (Fox, 1917) - Cast: Glen White, Walter Law, Herbert Heyes, Carey Lee, Alice Gale, John Webb Dillon and Louis Dean. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards.

The Tiger Woman (Fox, 1917) - Cast: E.F. Rogerman, Glen White, Mary Martin, John Webb Dillion, Louis Dean, Emil De Varney, Herbert Heyes, Edwin Holt, Florence Martin, Kate Blanke, George Clarke and Kittens Reichert. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards.

Her Greatest Love (Fox, 1917) - Cast: Glenn White, Harry Hilliard, Walter Law, Marie Curtis, Alice Gale and Callie Torres. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards.

Heart and Soul (Fox, 1917) - Cast: Harry Hilliard, Glen White, Claire Whitney, Walter Law, Edwin Holt, John Webb Dillon, Alice Gale, Kittens Reichert and Margaret Laird. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards.

Camille (Fox, 1917) - Cast: Albert Roscoe, Walter Law, Glen White, Alice Gale and Claire Whitney. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards.

Cleopatra (Fox, 1917) - Cast: Fritz Leiber, Thurston Hall, Albert Roscoe, Genevieve Blinn, Henry de Vries, Dorothy Drake, Dell Duncan, Hector V. Sarno, Herschel Mayall, Dorothy Blake, Helen Tracy, Alfred W. Fremont and Art Acord. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards. Note: Art Acord was one of the greatest cowboy stuntmen of the silver screen.

The Rose of Blood (Fox, 1917) - Cast: Richard Ordynski, Charles Clary, Herschel Mayall, Marie Keirnan, Bert Turner, Genevieve Blinn, Joe King and Hector V. Sarno. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards.

Madame Du Barry (Fox, 1917) - Cast: Charles Clary, Herschel Mayall, Fred Church, Genevieve Blinn, Willard Louis, Hector V. Sarno, Dorothy Drake, Rosita Marstini, Joe King, James Conley and Alfred W. Fremont. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards.

The Forbidden Path (Fox, 1918) - Cast: Hugh Thompson, Sidney Mason, Walter Law, Florence Martin, Wynne Hope Allen, Alphonse Ethier, Lisle Leigh and Reba Porter. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards.

The Soul of Buddha (Fox, 1918) - Cast: Hugh Thompson, Victor Kennard, Anthony Merlow, Florence Martin, Jack Ridgway and Henry Warwick. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards.

Under the Yoke (Fox, 1918) - Cast: Albert Roscoe, G. Raymond Nye, E.B. Tilton and Carrie Clark Ward. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards.

Salome (Fox, 1918) - Cast: G. Raymond Nye, Albert Roscoe, Bertram Grassby, Herbert Heyes, Genevieve Blinn, Vera Doria and Alfred W. Fremont. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards. Note: This film and Cleopatra are probably the two most famous of Theda's lost films.

When a Woman Sins (Fox, 1918) - Cast: Albert Roscoe, Joseph Swickard, Ogden Crane, Alfred W. Fremont, Jack Rollens and Genevieve Blinn. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards.

The She-Devil (Fox, 1918) - Cast: Albert Roscoe, Frederick Bond and George A. McDaniel. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards.

The Light (Fox, 1919) - Cast: Eugene Ormande, Robert Walker, George Revenant and Florence Martin. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards.

When Men Desire (Fox, 1919) - Cast: Flemming Ward, G. Raymond Nye, Florence Martin, Maude Hill, Edward Elkas. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards.

The Siren's Song (Fox, 1919) - Cast: Alfred W. Fremont, Ruth Handworth, L.C. Shumway, Albert Roscoe, Paul Weigel and Carrie Clark Ward. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards.

A Woman There Was (Fox, 1919) - Cast: William B. Davidson, Robert Elliot, Claude Payton and John Ardizoni. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards.

Kathleen Mavourneen (Fox, 1919) - Cast: Edward O'Connor, Jennie Dickenson, Raymond McKee, Marc McDermott, Marcia Harris, Henry Hallam, Harry Gripp and Morgan Thorpe. Directed by Charles J. Brabin. Note: Director Charles Brabin eventually married Theda Bara in June, 1921. Their marriage lasted 33 years until her death in 1955.

La Belle Russe (Fox, 1919) - Cast: Warburton Gamble, Marian Stewart, Robert Lee Keeling, William B. Davidson, Alice Wilson, Robert Vivian and Lewis Broughton. Directed by Charles J. Brabin.

The Lure of Ambition (Fox, 1919) - Cast: Thurlow Bergen, William B. Davidson, Dan Mason, Ida Waterman, Amelia Gardner, Robert Paton Gibbs, Dorothy Drake and Tammany Young. Directed by Edmund Lawrence.

The Unchastened Woman (Chadwick Pictures Corporation, 1925) - Cast: Wyndham Standing, Dale Fuller, John Miljan, Eileen Percy, Dot Farley, Harry Northrup, Mayme Kelso, Kate Price, Eric Mayne and Frederic Kovert. Directed by James Young. Note: One of Theda's four surviving films.

Madame Mystery (Hal Roach/Pathe, 1926) - Cast: James Finlayson, Tyler Brooke, Oliver Hardy, Fred Malatesta, Sam Brooks, R.E. Madeson and Martha Sleeper. Directed by Richard Wallace and Stan Laurel. Note: One of Theda's four surviving films. Oliver Hardy appears almost unrecognizable as Captain Schmaltz.