The Booth family were an English-American theatrical family of the 19th century. Its most famous and infamous members were Edwin Booth, one of the leading actors of his day, and John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Abraham Lincoln.
The patriarch was Junius Brutus Booth, a London-born lawyer's son who eventually settled on a stage career, where he found success. He inculcated his sons with both a love for the stage and an anti-authoritarian streak, deliberately naming his youngest son after English rebel John Wilkes. He emigrated to America in 1821, settled in Harford County near Baltimore, built a still existing house in 1847 naming it "Tudor Hall", and started a family with his mistress.[1][2]
Junius Sr. and Edwin toured the Western United States during the Gold Rush, performing plays by Shakespeare for illiterate miners, who nevertheless had no tolerance for bad acting. Edwin Booth bought an interest in the Winter Garden Theatre at 667 Broadway in New York City together with his brother-in-law John Sleeper Clarke. The brothers John Wilkes, Edwin, and Junius Brutus, Jr. performed there in the play Julius Caesar at a benefit in 1864, the only time they were seen together on a stage, playing Mark Antony, Brutus and Cassius, respectively. [3]
Notable members
- Junius Brutus Booth (1796-1852), brought his mistress, who bore him 10 children, to the United States.
- Junius Brutus Booth, Jr. (1821-1883), married to Agnes Booth. Junius Jr. never achieved the same fame as his brothers, but his third wife Agnes was popular.
- Their son Sydney Barton Booth (1877-1937) was an actor well into the era of modern film [4]
- Edwin Booth (1833-1893), came to be the foremost American Shakespearean actor of his day. He founded The Players, a New York City actors' club which continues to the present day.
- Edwin's grandson Edwin Booth Grossman was a painter of some note.
- Asia Booth (1835-1888), married John Sleeper Clarke, an actor/comedian who was briefly imprisoned in the aftermath of the assassination. They then emigrated to Britain where he became a successful theatre manager.
- Creston Clarke[5] and Wilfred Clarke[6], sons of John and Asia, were noted actors in their day.
- John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865), a popular young star in less serious fare than his brother. A Confederate sympathizer during the American Civil War. During a play attended by Abraham Lincoln, Booth took advantage of his access to the theatre to invade the President's box and assassinate him, but died days later with law enforcement in pursuit.
Descendants of the Booth family now reside in Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia, South Dakota, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, New York and Florida.citation needed
See also
References
External links
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