The New Student's Reference Work/Booth, Edwin Thomas

Booth, Edwin Thomas, one of the greatest of actors, a son of Junius Brutus Booth, was born at Belair, Maryland, in November, 1833. He was educated for the stage, and early appeared in several minor parts with his father; and on one occasion filled successfully his father's place as Richard III. He made a trip to California, then to Australia, and on his return to New York appeared as Richard III, and soon gained a high reputation for his playing of Shakespeare's leading characters, especially Iago and Hamlet. In 1861 he went to Europe, playing in England and studying his art on the continent. Returning to New York, he produced the play of Hamlet at the Winter Garden for 100 nights. In 1869 he opened a splendid theater in New York, devoted to the classic drama, at a cost of over $1,000,000. In 1880 and 1882 he visited England again and also Germany, and was received everywhere with enthusiasm. His career was one of the most brilliant in the annals of the drama. Besides the characters of Shakespeare he represented, his rendering of Richelieu, in Bulwer's drama of that name, won him fame. He died at New York, June 7, 1893.