Edwin Thomas Booth (13 November 1833-7 June 1893) was an American stage actor, theatrical manager, and the older brother of John Wilkes Booth.
Biography[]
Edwin Booth was born in Bel Air, Maryland in 1833, the son of the English actor Junius Brutus Booth (who was of Welsh and Jewish descent) and his wife Mary Ann Holmes; he was the younger brother of Junius Brutus Booth Jr. and the elder brother of John Wilkes Booth. He performed alongside his father starting on 10 September 1849, and he toured throughout the world, including the United States, Australia, Hawaii, and the major capitals of Europe. Edwin appeared with his two brothers in Julius Caesar in 1864, playing Marcus Junius Brutus, while John Wilkes played Mark Antony and Junius placed Gaius Cassius Longinus. Edwin fell out with John Wilkes due to Edwin's support for the Union and John Wilkes' Confederate sympathies, as well as due to John Wilkes' jealousy. In late 1864, Booth saved Robert Todd Lincoln from being struck by a train in Jersey City, New Jersey. After the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Booth was forced to abandont he stage for manymonths before making his return to the stage in January 1866 and playing the title role in Hamlet, which became his signature role. Booth also became a theatre manager, but his Manhattan theatre went bankrupt in the Panic of 1873. Booth regained his fortune during another worldwide tour, and he purchased land in Middletown, Rhode Island in 1879. He died in 1893.