Junius Brutus Booth

Junius Brutus Booth 1796-1852, Anglo-American actor. After experience in the provinces, he appeared at Covent Garden. In 1817, with his portrayal of Richard III, he established himself as a rival of Edmund Kean. In 1821 he emigrated to the United States, where he spent most of his remaining life. An imposing tragic actor with a full, rich voice and a rugged grandeur, Booth had an erratic personal life complicated by intemperate habits. His son Junius Brutus Booth, Jr. excelled as a theatrical manager, while Edwin Booth surpassed his father as an actor. A third son was the assassin of President Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth .

Bibliography: See S. Kimmel, The Mad Booths of Maryland (2d ed. 1969).

Booth, Junius Brutus (1796–1852), British actor, emigrated to the U.S. in 1821. Here, despite attacks of insanity, intemperance, and general irresponsibility, he played in theaters throughout the country, augmenting his reputation as a great tragedian. His sons were the actors Edwin Thomas Booth and John Wilkes Booth.

Booth, Junius Brutus (1796–1852), actor. Slated for the law in his native England, he elected to become an actor instead and soon rose to play opposite Edmund Kean, who was seen in many quarters as his rival. In 1821, however, Booth deserted his wife, wed Mary Ann Holmes, a Bow Street flower seller years later, and came to America, where in Richmond he made his debut as Richard III, making his New York debut in the same role the next year. The critic for the National Advocate described Booth as “slender, and below middle size; youthful in appearance and rather handsome than otherwise. His countenance is open and expressive; his eye of that peculiar cast which is well adapted to display the workings of a distorted mind; his voice pleasing and capable of great modulation.” Among his other famous roles were Hamlet, Sir Giles Overreach, Posthumus, Iago, and Cassius, as well as important parts in such now‐neglected plays as Brutus. Many critics suggested his interpretations were copied from Kean, but nonetheless they recognized his unique abilities and hailed him as the first powerful tragedian of the American stage. Early on he developed a habit of beginning quietly and saving his full force for the final impassioned scenes. At one time he played Oreste in Racine's Andromaque in French and claimed to have done Shylock in Hebrew, the last possibly reflecting his Jewish ancestry. As with all actors of his day, he toured regularly. His last performance was in New Orleans, and he died on a Mississippi steamboat while continuing that tour. Because his first wife would not grant him a divorce until 1851, all his children but the first were born out of wedlock. His eldest son by his second marriage, Junius Brutus Booth Jr. (1821–83), made his New York debut as Abder Khan in Mazeppa in 1843. Never the fine performer his father or brothers were, he played largely in supporting roles, although he had a moderately successful career as actor‐manager, especially in California. He retired early to enter the hotel business. Biography: Booth Memorials: Passages, Incidents and Anecdotes in the Life of Junius Brutus Booth (the Elder), Asia Booth Clarke, 1866.