The RKO Fordham Theatre opened on April 14, 1921, at 215 East Fordham Road in the Bronx, New York. Designed by architect William H. McElfatrick, the 2,446-seat theater was built for the B.F. Keith vaudeville circuit and originally operated as B.F. Keith’s Fordham Theatre. Opening day featured six vaudeville acts and a screening of Black Roses, starring Sessue Hayakawa. The theater also featured a three-manual Möller pipe organ, which was replaced by a Robert Morton organ in 1926.

In 1929, the theater became part of the Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) circuit following the merger of the Keith and Orpheum theater interests with RCA’s motion picture operations. The same year, Loew’s Paradise Theatre opened nearby on the Grand Concourse, giving the Fordham some serious competition. The Paradise was one of Loew’s five Wonder Theatres and generally received exclusive Bronx engagements, while the Fordham shared its film programs with other RKO theaters throughout the borough. Despite the competition, both theaters remained major attractions in the Fordham shopping district for decades.

As attendance at large neighborhood movie theaters declined, the RKO Fordham was divided into three auditoriums in 1976. A fourth screen was added in 1980. In 1984, RKO Century Warner spent approximately $250,000 renovating the building, including improvements to the projection equipment and interior. The investment was not enough to keep the theater operating, and the Fordham closed on July 24, 1986, after 65 years.

The building was demolished in March 1987 and replaced by retail development. Today, little remains to indicate that one of the Bronx’s largest neighborhood theaters once stood along Fordham Road. Unlike the nearby Loew’s Paradise, which survived decades of closures and changes in ownership, the RKO Fordham disappeared entirely.