1920s movie actress Theda Bara as Cleopatra (in very risqué costumes)
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Whitewashing and Film galleries
The rise of Hollywood as the center of the American film industry forced her to relocate to Los Angeles to film the epic Cleopatra , which became one of Bara's biggest hits. They were selling sex. The film did as it was intended: Please reload or try later. Her femme fatale roles earned her the nickname The Vamp short for vampire , later fueling the rising popularity in "vamp" roles that encapsulated exoticism and sexual domination.