Biography

John Wilkes Booth was an American theatrical actor from Maryland. He was a member of the prominent Booth theatrical family. Booth assassinated president Abraham Lincoln, and was killed shortly after. He was the first of four presidential assassins in United States history.

In 1838, Booth was born in Bel Air, Harford County, Maryland. It was a small town with less than 200 residents. Booth's father was Junius Brutus Booth (1796 -1852), a British Shakespearean actor who had migrated to the United States in 1821. Booth's mother was Mary Ann Holmes, Junius' long-term mistress. His parents could not be legally married, as Junius had left his wife back in England when he migrated.

Booth was named after the British radical politician John Wilkes (1725 -1797), a member of the Hellfire Club (an exclusive club for high-society rakes). Wilkes happened to be a cousin of Booth's father, though they never met. Junius chose to emphasize their relation.

In 1851, Junius Booth finally secured a divorce from his first wife, following 30 years of separation. On May 10, 1851 Junius married Holmes. This allowed him to legitimize his children by her. Also in 1851, Junius started building Tudor Hall as a new summer home for his family. It would serve as John Booth's main residence from December 1852 to 1856.

In 1852, Junius Booth died during a steamboat trip from New Orleans to Cincinnati. He is thought to have been accidentally poisoned through drinking impure river water. John Booth became an orphan at age 14, and was forced to drop out of school. He had previously attended the "Milton Boarding School for Boys" and the military academy "St. Timothy's Hall". Booth was reportedly an indifferent student. A former teacher thought that Booth was intelligent, but not particularly interested in his studies.

As a teenager, Booth aspired to become an actor. His older brothers Junius Brutus Booth Jr. (1821-1883) and Edwin Booth (1833 - 1893) had already started their own acting careers. In preparation for an acting career, Booth practiced elocution daily and studied the works of William Shakespeare.

In August 1855, Booth made his stage debut at the "Charles Street Theatre" of Baltimore. He was playing the Earl of Richmond in Shakespeare's "Richard III". He missed some of his lines, and the audience jeered at him. At about that time, Booth started performing regularly at the " Holliday Street Theater" of Baltimore. This theater had previously hosted performances by other members of the Booth family.

In 1857, Booth joined the stock company of the "Arch Street Theatre" in Philadelphia. He used the alias "J.B. Wilkes" to avoid comparison with his father and brothers. He gained a reputation as a scene stealer, and the audience reacted positively to his enthusiasm. In February, 1858, Booth played the role of Petruchio Pandolfo in the opera "Lucrezia Borgia" by Gaetano Donizetti. He developed stage fright, and accidentally turned his opening lines into a comedic monologue. The audience reacted with roaring laughter.

Later within 1858, Booth started performing in Virginia. He joined the stock company of the "Richmond Theatre" in Virginia. He became popular due to his energetic performances, and the audience singled him out for praise. By the end of 1858, Booth had appeared in 83 plays in a single year. His favorite role was playing Marcus Junius Brutus, because he was "the slayer of a tyrant".

By the end of the 1850s, Booth had a yearly income of 20,000 dollars. Critics described him as "the handsomest man in America" and a "natural genius", and female audience members idolized him. His performances were often acrobatic in nature, with him leaping upon the stage. He was passionately gesturing as he spoke his lines. He regularly practiced swordsmanship to use its movements in his performances. He reportedly "cut himself with his own sword" on several occasions.

In 1860, Booth started his first national tour as a leading actor. He performed in major cities, such as New York City, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, St. Louis, Columbus, Georgia, Montgomery, Alabama, and New Orleans. Critics praised his lively performances, though they noted that Booth was less cultured and graceful than his brother Edwin. Walt Whitman commented that Booth had flashes of real genius as he performed.

In 1861, the American Civil War started. Booth publicly expressed his admiration for the Southern United States secession. Several people wanted him to be banned from the stage for his supposedly treasonous statements, but no official action was taken against Booth. In 1862, Booth regularly performed in the Union states of the war, despite his Confederate sympathies. He also performed in the border states, the small group of slave states who refused to secede from the Union (Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri).

By 1863, Booth won more acclaim for portraying villains on stage. He frequently performed as Richard III, King of England (1452 - 1485, reigned 1483-1485) in Shakespeare's tragedy "Richard III". He also played the villainous Duke Pescara in "The Apostate". By the autumn of 1863, Booth was regularly performing in Boston, Providence, Rhode Island, and Hartford, Connecticut.

In November 1863, Booth first performed on "Ford's Theatre" in Washington, D.C. The theatre building was new, debuting in August 1863. It was owned by John Thompson Ford (1829-1894), an old friend of the Booth family. Booth was among the first leading men to appear in the theatre. Among the audience in Booth's original performance was Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln and his family noted that Booth frequently glared at the president throughout the performance. Booth declined an invitation to meet Lincoln in person. Booth gained a new fan in Tad Lincoln (1853 -1871), Lincoln's youngest son, who was thrilled with Booth's performances. Booth delivered a rose to Tad as a gift, in appreciation of the boy's vocal admiration for him.

Booth continued regularly performing in 1864 and early 1865, making his final theatrical performance on on March 18, 1865. In 1864, Booth helped raise funds for the erection of a statue of William Shakespeare for Central Park. Also in 1864, Booth invested part of his income in Fuller Farm Oil, a Pennsylvania-based oil drilling company. Their oil well reportedly yielded 25 barrels (4 kl) of crude oil daily. Booth withdrew his financial support of the company by the end of the year, possibly in reaction to an industrial accident involving explosives.

In February 1865, Booth was engaged to the famed socialite Lucy Lambert Hale (1841-1915), daughter of the Republican senator John Parker Hale. Booth's mother approved their relationship, though Holmes warned her son that his romantic infatuations tended to be short-lived. Booth reportedly had never explained his hatred of Lincoln to his fiancee.

By late 1864, Booth had formed a small network of Confederate sympathizers. They plotted to kidnap Abraham Lincoln. But in April 1865, Booth heard the news that Robert E. Lee had surrendered at Appomattox Court House. He decided that the kidnapping plot was no longer feasible, and started plotting to assassinate Lincoln instead.

By April 14, Booth had finalized his plan to personally assassinate Lincoln while the President attended a performance at Ford's Theatre. Booth's fellow conspirators were supposed to also assassinate vice-president Andrew Johnson and secretary of state William H. Seward, the two men at the top of the presidential succession order. Their plan was to throw the Union into a state of panic and confusion, in hopes of prolonging the civil war.

On the night of April 14, Booth shot Lincoln in the back of the head with with a .41 caliber Deringer pistol. Major Henry Rathbone (1837-1911) then attempted to apprehend Booth, but Booth stabbed him with a knife. Booth then jumped on the state, loudly proclaiming "sic semper tyrannis". (Latin for "Thus always to tyrants"). He was quoting a phrase attributed to Marcus Junius Brutus, in reference to Julius Caesar's assassination. His fellow conspirators failed in their own assassination tasks. Johnson was left unharmed, while Seward received non-fatal wounds in the attack targeting him.

After leaving Washington, D.C on horseback, Booth fled into southern Maryland. By that time, Booth had injured his leg in uncertain circumstances. His leg was briefly treated by Dr. Samuel Mudd (1833 - 1883). Booth spend days hiding in the Maryland woods, waiting for an opportunity to cross the Potomac River into Virginia. By April 26, Booth was located by Union troops while hiding in Richard H. Garrett tobacco barn in Virginia. When Booth refused to surrender, the soldiers set the barn on fire. Booth was shot by sergeant Boston Corbett (1832-c. 1894), who was acting against orders.

Booth was fatally wounded in the neck, with the bullet partially severing his spinal cord. He was left paralyzed, and had to be transported to Garrett's farmhouse. He died there three hours later, at the age of 26. His last request was for the soldiers to tell his mother that he died for his country. His final words were "useless, useless", in reference to his paralyzed hands.

Booth's corpse was transported by ship to the Washington Navy Yard for identification and an autopsy. The body was then buried in a storage room at the Old Penitentiary. In 1867, Booth's remains were moved to a warehouse at the Washington Arsenal. In 1869, his remains were released to the Booth family, and buried in the family plot at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore.

Booth's legacy has remained controversial in the 150 years that followed his death. Confederate veterans and their families praised him for years as a martyr to their cause, while Northerners cursed him as the madman who killed the "savior of the Union" (Lincoln). By the early 20th century, Booth was popularly blamed for supposedly causing all the mutual hostility and violence associated with the Reconstruction era (1865-1877). But he remains one of the most famous figures associated with the American Civil War. His tomb annually attracts visitors.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Dimos I