Theda Bara My Mentor

<p> As movie patrons sat in darkened theaters in January 1914 they were mesmerized by an alluring temptress with long sable hair and kohl-rimmed eyes. Theda Bara--the vamp as she would come to be known--would soon be one of the highest paid film stars of the 1910s earning an unheard of $4000 per week before retiring from the screen in 1926.</p><p> In 1946 at age five the author met Bara--then 61--at her Beverly Hills home and the actress became her mentor. This memoir is the story of their friendship.</p>