Introduction to Booth (family)
Booth, the name of a family of actors. Two of the Booths were among the most brilliant actors of the 19th century. A third was the man who shot President Abraham Lincoln.
Junius Brutus Booth
(1796–1852) was born in London. He made his professional debut at 17 and was one of England's most sought-after actors before he was 21. Booth won his reputation in Shakespearean tragedies at the Covent Garden and Drury Lane theaters. He was highly successful as Iago, Shylock, and Hamlet, but his favorite role was Richard III. Booth came to the United States in 1821 and was equally successful. He also was a talented poet, painter, and sculptor. After 1837 he had periodic attacks of mental illness.
Edwin Thomas Booth
(1833–1893) was the fourth son of Junius Booth. He was born near Bel Air, Maryland. His first stage appearance was as Tressel in Richard III >at Boston in 1849. When his father became ill at the National Theater, New York, in 1851, Edwin successfully replaced him as Richard III.
Booth became adept at Shakespearean roles and in 1863 played Hamlet for 100 successive nights at the Winter Garden, New York. In 1869 he opened Booth's Theater, New York, with Romeo and Juliet. He went bankrupt in the panic of 1873 but regained his fortune by touring the United States and Europe. His popular roles were Hamlet, King Lear, and Othello. Booth founded the Players' Club in New York. He retired in 1891.
Edwin Booth John Wilkes Booth
(1838–1865), another son of Junius, was also born near Bel Air, Maryland. As a youth he was known for his erratic and extravagant actions. He longed for fame, and once said that a man must bring down a giant to become famous. He made his stage debut at 17 and within a few years had received national recognition. He was, however, less successful than his father and brother.
In contrast to the others in his family. Booth held fanatical proslavery views and sympathized with the South. In the winter of 1864, he helped organize a conspiracy to kidnap Lincoln. The plan failed because Lincoln did not appear at the expected place on the day set for the kidnapping (March 20, 1865). Booth then decided to assassinate Lincoln.
Booth's chance came on April 14, 1865, when Lincoln attended Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. Booth slipped into the Presidential box and shot Lincoln in the head. He leaped to the stage shouting " Sic semper tyrannis! [Thus always to tyrants.] The South is avenged!" Booth broke his leg but managed to escape with the help of friends. Two weeks later Federal troops and detectives trapped him in a barn. The barn was surrounded and set afire. Booth was shot—or shot himself—and was pulled dying out of the barn. Although it was definitely Booth who was killed, a legend grew up that he escaped and fled west.
