Edwin Booth

Edwin Thomas Booth (November 13, 1833 – June 7, 1893), born near Bel Air, Maryland, was a famous 19th century American actor. He was the son of another famous actor, Junius Brutus Booth, who named Edwin after Edwin Forrest and Thomas Flynn, two of Junius' colleagues.

Related Topics:
November 13 - 1833 - June 7 - 1893 - Bel Air, Maryland - 19th century - Junius Brutus Booth - Edwin Forrest - Thomas Flynn

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Edwin's younger brother John Wilkes Booth, who was also an actor, assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. Ironically, Edwin Booth saved Abraham Lincoln's son, Robert Lincoln, from serious injury or even death by pulling him up onto a train platform after Robert had fallen.

Related Topics:
John Wilkes Booth - President - Abraham Lincoln - Robert Lincoln

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Edwin Booth made his stage debut in Richard III in Boston in 1849. In his early appearances he usually performed alongside his father. Two years later Edwin had his first starring role, standing in for the elder Booth.

Related Topics:
Richard III - Boston - 1849

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After his father's death in 1852, Booth went on a worldwide tour, visiting Australia and Hawaii, and finally gaining acclaim of his own during a performance run in Sacramento, California in 1856. He would eventually be recognized as the pre-eminent American actor of his day.

Related Topics:
1852 - Australia - Hawaii - Sacramento, California - 1856

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From 1863 to 1867, Booth managed the Winter Garden Theater in New York City, mostly staging Shakespearean tragedies.

Related Topics:
Winter Garden Theater - New York City - Shakespearean

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After Lincoln's assassination, the infamy associated with the Booth name forced Booth to abandon the stage for many months, a period dramatized in the 1955 Richard Burton movie Prince of Players, which was adapted from the biography of the same name by Eleanor Ruggles (ISBN 0837165296). He made his return to the stage at the Winter Garden in January 1866, playing the lead in Hamlet. The part of Hamlet would eventually become Booth's signature role.

Related Topics:
Richard Burton - 1866 - Hamlet

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In 1867, a fire damaged the Winter Garden Theatre, resulting in the building's subsequent demolition. Booth then built the Booth Theatre (completed in 1869) and continued a renowned acting career. The panic of 1873 caused the bankruptcy of the Booth Theatre in 1874. Thereafter he went on another worldwide tour, eventually regaining his fortune.

Related Topics:
Winter Garden Theatre - Booth Theatre - 1869 - 1873 - Bankruptcy - 1874

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Booth was married to Mary Devlin from 1860 to 1863, the year of her death. He later remarried, wedding Mary McVicker in 1869, and becoming a widower again in 1881.

Related Topics:
1860 - 1863 - 1869 - 1881

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In 1888 Booth founded the Players' Club in New York. His final performance was in his signature role of Hamlet, in 1891 at the Brooklyn Academy. He died in 1893 at the Players' Club he founded.

Related Topics:
1888 - Players' Club - 1891 - Brooklyn Academy - 1893

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The Players' Club still stands, and holds a portrait of Booth by the famous American painter John Singer Sargent.

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