Junius Brutus Booth
Encyclopedia
Junius Brutus Booth was an English
actor
. He was the father of John Wilkes Booth
(actor and the assassin of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln
), Edwin Booth
(the foremost tragedian of the mid-to-late 19th century), and Junius Brutus Booth, Jr.
, an actor and theatre manager. Booth was named after Marcus Junius Brutus
, one of the lead assassins of Julius Caesar
.
, England
, the son of Richard Booth, a lawyer
and avid supporter of the American cause, and Jane Elizabeth Game, and grandson of John Booth, a silversmith
, and Elizabeth Wilkes, a relative of the English radical and politician John Wilkes
. Booth's father pressed Booth to do a multitude of professions. Booth recalls of his childhood, "I was destined by my Controllers first for the Printing office, then to be an architect, then to be a sculptor and modeler, then a lawyer, then a sailor, of all of these I preferred those of sculptor and modeler.” Booth’s interests in theatre came after he attended a production of Othello at the Covent Garden theatre. The prospects of fame, fortune and freedom were very appealing to young Booth. He displayed remarkable talent from an early age, deciding on a career in the theatre
by the age of seventeen. He performed roles in several small theatres throughout England, and joined a tour of the Low Countries
in 1814, returning the following year to make his London debut.
. Several years later they eloped, marrying in London on May 17, 1815, soon after his 19th birthday. Their first child, Amelia, was born October 5 of the same year, but died in infancy. The only child to survive infancy, Richard Junius Booth, was born January 21, 1819.
In 1821, Booth ran off to the United States with Mary Ann Holmes, a flower girl, abandoning his wife and their young son. Booth and Mary Ann claimed to be married that year and settled near Bel Air, Maryland
in a farmhouse. Booth remodeled it and named it "Tudor Hall
." It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1973. While Booth toured frequently in the United States, his family, which grew to 10 children, lived in great isolation in relatively primitive conditions, despite the grand name he and Mary Ann gave to their residence.
Booth fulfilled his promise to his wife, Adelaide, and went twice back to Europe to see her. Each time he never spoke of Mary Ann Holmes. However, his son Richard Booth set out to visit his father in America, finding his father was a drunk with a prospering family. Richard sent word to his mother who arrived in America in October 1846. After years of unsuccessful attempts to break up his relationship with Mary Ann Holmes, she divorced him in 1851.
On May 10, 1851, with the youngest of their ten children now eleven years of age, Junius finally legally married Mary Ann.
in 1817 at the Covent Garden Theatre. Critics compared his performances favorably with those of Edmund Kean
, who was at the time the foremost tragedian in Britain. Partisans of the two actors, literally called Boothites and Keanites, would occasionally start rows at venues where the two were playing together. This did not stop the two from performing in the same plays; Kean and Booth acted in several Shakespearean productions at the Drury Lane Theatre
from 1817 to 1821. Kean then saw Booth as a threat and orchestrated a way for the two of them to perform those roles yet again, planning to outperform his opponent. Kean’s longstanding presence attributed to Booth’s never ending comparisons to his rival.
Booth went to the United States in 1821, abandoning his wife and young son for another woman. Booth quickly got hired to play Richard III. Upon his late arrival to rehearsals, his employers were skeptical due to his appearance wondering, “Is it possible this can be ‘the great Mr. Booth, ‘undoubtedly the best actor living?’” In under a year, Booth became the most prominent actor in America. Critic William Winter said, “He was followed as a marvel. Mention of his name stirred an enthusiasm no other could awaken” (Smith 23). They settled in Bel Air, Maryland. He embarked upon a thirty-year acting career that made him famous throughout the country. Booth traveled to such cities as Baltimore, Boston and New York
.
A persistent story, but apocryphal, is that Junius Brutus Booth was acclaimed for performing Orestes in the French language in New Orleans. Theatrical Manager Noah Ludlow, who was performing with Booth at the time at the American theatre in New Orleans, recounts the actual events starting on page 230 of his memoir Dramatic Life As I Found It and concludes: "Therefore I consider the story of Mr. Booth having performed Orestes in the French language, on the French stage, altogether a mistake arising from his having acted that character in the French theatre of New Orleans in 1822, but in the English language."
In 1825-1826 and 1836-1837 Booth made tours of his native England without his family. By 1831 he had become the manager of the Adelphi Theatre in Baltimore
.
His acclaim continued to grow throughout the rest of his life; Walt Whitman
described him as "the grandest historian of modern times." Although his relationship with Mary Ann was relatively happy, four of their children died, three in the same year (1833), when there were epidemics of cholera
. In addition, he suffered from alcoholism
, which had an effect on the entire family and would never escape him.
Booth’s increasing alcoholism also caused him to become increasingly unpredictable and reckless. He would drop lines, miss scenes, and cause chaos onstage. During a performance of Hamlet, Booth suddenly left the scene he was playing with Ophelia, scurried up a ladder, and perched up in the backdrops crowing like a rooster until his manager retrieved him. He was one once booked for a sold out performance in Richmond, then disappeared from town for several days. Eventually he was found with “ragged, besotted wretches, the greatest actor on the American stage.” He soon became so unreliable that he had to be locked into his hotel rooms with a guard standing watch. Often he would still find ways of escaping to drown himself at a nearby tavern.
Reality could become overwhelming for Booth so he would flee from it, both in alcoholism and the roles he played. A critic said of Booth that the “personality of the actor was forgotten, and all the details seemed spontaneous workings and unconscious illustrations of the character he represented.” He seemed to be possessed by the characters, losing his own identity." His son, Edwin, later says of his father, “Great minds to madness closely are allied.” From February 1817 onward, he played almost three thousand performances. Booth brought a romantic natural acting style to America, which he pioneered into the hearts of American audiences.
During the period of Adelaide’s arrival to America, Junius Brutus was touring around the country. His son, Edwin, was chosen to accompany him as his dresser, aid, and guardian. Edwin was not at all like his father. This was an exhausting job because Junius Brutus could go without sleep for very long periods of time and would often disappear.
In 1835, Booth wrote a letter to President Andrew Jackson
, demanding he pardon two pirates. In the letter, he threatened to kill the President. The letter was believed to be a hoax, until a handwriting analysis of a letter written some days after the threat concluded that the letter was, in fact, written by Booth. Booth apologized to Jackson for his threat.
Decades later, Booth’s son, John Wilkes Booth, assassinated president Abraham Lincoln
.
In 1852, he was involved in a tour of California
with his sons Edwin
and Junius Brutus Booth, Jr.
, performing in San Francisco
and Sacramento
. On the return trip, the pair again visited New Orleans for some engagements. On the steamboat
ride from New Orleans to Cincinnati, Junius became ill from drinking impure river water. No physician was on board, and he died after suffering five days of fever. Upon hearing the news of her husband, Mary Anne was pleased with his passing and said, “Yes, yes, that was just what he thought right to do. To endure patiently, to suffer without a complaint, and to trouble no one.”
Junius Brutus Booth was inducted, posthumously, into the American Theatre Hall of Fame
in 1981.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. He was the father of John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...
(actor and the assassin of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
), Edwin Booth
Edwin Booth
Edwin Thomas Booth was a famous 19th century American actor who toured throughout America and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869 he founded Booth's Theatre in New York, a spectacular theatre that was quite modern for its time...
(the foremost tragedian of the mid-to-late 19th century), and Junius Brutus Booth, Jr.
Junius Brutus Booth, Jr.
Junius Brutus Booth, Jr. was an American actor and theatre manager.As a member of the illustrious Booth family of actors, Junius Brutus Booth, Jr. was overshadowed not only by his father Junius, Sr...
, an actor and theatre manager. Booth was named after Marcus Junius Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus , often referred to as Brutus, was a politician of the late Roman Republic. After being adopted by his uncle he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, but eventually returned to using his original name...
, one of the lead assassins of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
.
Biography
Junius was born in St. Pancras, LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the son of Richard Booth, a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and avid supporter of the American cause, and Jane Elizabeth Game, and grandson of John Booth, a silversmith
Silversmith
A silversmith is a craftsperson who makes objects from silver or gold. The terms 'silversmith' and 'goldsmith' are not synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product varies greatly as does the scale of objects created.Silversmithing is the...
, and Elizabeth Wilkes, a relative of the English radical and politician John Wilkes
John Wilkes
John Wilkes was an English radical, journalist and politician.He was first elected Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he fought for the right of voters—rather than the House of Commons—to determine their representatives...
. Booth's father pressed Booth to do a multitude of professions. Booth recalls of his childhood, "I was destined by my Controllers first for the Printing office, then to be an architect, then to be a sculptor and modeler, then a lawyer, then a sailor, of all of these I preferred those of sculptor and modeler.” Booth’s interests in theatre came after he attended a production of Othello at the Covent Garden theatre. The prospects of fame, fortune and freedom were very appealing to young Booth. He displayed remarkable talent from an early age, deciding on a career in the theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
by the age of seventeen. He performed roles in several small theatres throughout England, and joined a tour of the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
in 1814, returning the following year to make his London debut.
Marriage and family
Early in 1810, Junius met Marie Christine Adelaide Delannoy while boarding at her mother's home in BrusselsBrussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. Several years later they eloped, marrying in London on May 17, 1815, soon after his 19th birthday. Their first child, Amelia, was born October 5 of the same year, but died in infancy. The only child to survive infancy, Richard Junius Booth, was born January 21, 1819.
In 1821, Booth ran off to the United States with Mary Ann Holmes, a flower girl, abandoning his wife and their young son. Booth and Mary Ann claimed to be married that year and settled near Bel Air, Maryland
Bel Air, Harford County, Maryland
The town of Bel Air is the county seat of Harford County, Maryland, United States. According to the 2000 census the population of the town was 10,080. In 2009 the town's estimated population was 10,368...
in a farmhouse. Booth remodeled it and named it "Tudor Hall
Tudor Hall (Bel Air, Maryland)
Tudor Hall is a historic home located at Bel Air, Harford County, Maryland, United States. It is a -story Gothic Revival cottage built of painted brick. The house was built as a country retreat by Junius Brutus Booth from Plates 44 and 45, Design XVII, of The Architect, by William H. Ranlett, 1847...
." It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1973. While Booth toured frequently in the United States, his family, which grew to 10 children, lived in great isolation in relatively primitive conditions, despite the grand name he and Mary Ann gave to their residence.
Booth fulfilled his promise to his wife, Adelaide, and went twice back to Europe to see her. Each time he never spoke of Mary Ann Holmes. However, his son Richard Booth set out to visit his father in America, finding his father was a drunk with a prospering family. Richard sent word to his mother who arrived in America in October 1846. After years of unsuccessful attempts to break up his relationship with Mary Ann Holmes, she divorced him in 1851.
On May 10, 1851, with the youngest of their ten children now eleven years of age, Junius finally legally married Mary Ann.
Career
Booth gained national renown in England with his performance in the title role of Richard IIIRichard III (play)
Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...
in 1817 at the Covent Garden Theatre. Critics compared his performances favorably with those of Edmund Kean
Edmund Kean
Edmund Kean was an English actor, regarded in his time as the greatest ever.-Early life:Kean was born in London. His father was probably Edmund Kean, an architect’s clerk, and his mother was an actress, Anne Carey, daughter of the 18th century composer and playwright Henry Carey...
, who was at the time the foremost tragedian in Britain. Partisans of the two actors, literally called Boothites and Keanites, would occasionally start rows at venues where the two were playing together. This did not stop the two from performing in the same plays; Kean and Booth acted in several Shakespearean productions at the Drury Lane Theatre
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
from 1817 to 1821. Kean then saw Booth as a threat and orchestrated a way for the two of them to perform those roles yet again, planning to outperform his opponent. Kean’s longstanding presence attributed to Booth’s never ending comparisons to his rival.
Booth went to the United States in 1821, abandoning his wife and young son for another woman. Booth quickly got hired to play Richard III. Upon his late arrival to rehearsals, his employers were skeptical due to his appearance wondering, “Is it possible this can be ‘the great Mr. Booth, ‘undoubtedly the best actor living?’” In under a year, Booth became the most prominent actor in America. Critic William Winter said, “He was followed as a marvel. Mention of his name stirred an enthusiasm no other could awaken” (Smith 23). They settled in Bel Air, Maryland. He embarked upon a thirty-year acting career that made him famous throughout the country. Booth traveled to such cities as Baltimore, Boston and New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
A persistent story, but apocryphal, is that Junius Brutus Booth was acclaimed for performing Orestes in the French language in New Orleans. Theatrical Manager Noah Ludlow, who was performing with Booth at the time at the American theatre in New Orleans, recounts the actual events starting on page 230 of his memoir Dramatic Life As I Found It and concludes: "Therefore I consider the story of Mr. Booth having performed Orestes in the French language, on the French stage, altogether a mistake arising from his having acted that character in the French theatre of New Orleans in 1822, but in the English language."
In 1825-1826 and 1836-1837 Booth made tours of his native England without his family. By 1831 he had become the manager of the Adelphi Theatre in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
.
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
described him as "the grandest historian of modern times." Although his relationship with Mary Ann was relatively happy, four of their children died, three in the same year (1833), when there were epidemics of cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
. In addition, he suffered from alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, which had an effect on the entire family and would never escape him.
Booth’s increasing alcoholism also caused him to become increasingly unpredictable and reckless. He would drop lines, miss scenes, and cause chaos onstage. During a performance of Hamlet, Booth suddenly left the scene he was playing with Ophelia, scurried up a ladder, and perched up in the backdrops crowing like a rooster until his manager retrieved him. He was one once booked for a sold out performance in Richmond, then disappeared from town for several days. Eventually he was found with “ragged, besotted wretches, the greatest actor on the American stage.” He soon became so unreliable that he had to be locked into his hotel rooms with a guard standing watch. Often he would still find ways of escaping to drown himself at a nearby tavern.
Reality could become overwhelming for Booth so he would flee from it, both in alcoholism and the roles he played. A critic said of Booth that the “personality of the actor was forgotten, and all the details seemed spontaneous workings and unconscious illustrations of the character he represented.” He seemed to be possessed by the characters, losing his own identity." His son, Edwin, later says of his father, “Great minds to madness closely are allied.” From February 1817 onward, he played almost three thousand performances. Booth brought a romantic natural acting style to America, which he pioneered into the hearts of American audiences.
During the period of Adelaide’s arrival to America, Junius Brutus was touring around the country. His son, Edwin, was chosen to accompany him as his dresser, aid, and guardian. Edwin was not at all like his father. This was an exhausting job because Junius Brutus could go without sleep for very long periods of time and would often disappear.
In 1835, Booth wrote a letter to President Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
, demanding he pardon two pirates. In the letter, he threatened to kill the President. The letter was believed to be a hoax, until a handwriting analysis of a letter written some days after the threat concluded that the letter was, in fact, written by Booth. Booth apologized to Jackson for his threat.
Decades later, Booth’s son, John Wilkes Booth, assassinated president Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
.
In 1852, he was involved in a tour of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
with his sons Edwin
Edwin Booth
Edwin Thomas Booth was a famous 19th century American actor who toured throughout America and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869 he founded Booth's Theatre in New York, a spectacular theatre that was quite modern for its time...
and Junius Brutus Booth, Jr.
Junius Brutus Booth, Jr.
Junius Brutus Booth, Jr. was an American actor and theatre manager.As a member of the illustrious Booth family of actors, Junius Brutus Booth, Jr. was overshadowed not only by his father Junius, Sr...
, performing in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
and Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
. On the return trip, the pair again visited New Orleans for some engagements. On the steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
ride from New Orleans to Cincinnati, Junius became ill from drinking impure river water. No physician was on board, and he died after suffering five days of fever. Upon hearing the news of her husband, Mary Anne was pleased with his passing and said, “Yes, yes, that was just what he thought right to do. To endure patiently, to suffer without a complaint, and to trouble no one.”
Junius Brutus Booth was inducted, posthumously, into the American Theatre Hall of Fame
American Theatre Hall of Fame
The American Theatre Hall of Fame in New York City was founded in 1972. Earl Blackwell was the first head of the Executive Committee. In an announcement at a luncheon meeting on March 1972, he said that the new Theater Hall of Fame would be located in the Uris Theatre . James M...
in 1981.