Throughout
the nation, mid-century audiences clamored for a chance to see actor Edwin
Booth. A son of famous actor Junius Booth, he performed in packed halls as
Hamlet, King Lear, Brutus, Othello, Iago, and other Shakespearean figures.
Though
not so well known, his brother John Wilkes Booth, also an actor, was admired
and respected by critics and the public in both the North and South. After the
April 14, 1865, assassination of Lincoln, the name of Edwin’s younger brother
became more widely known than those of all other members of the Booth family.
