BOOTH, Junius Brutus, English dian : b. London, 1 May 1796; d. December 1852. After fulfilling engagements at Deptford, near London, and other places, and even performing at Brussels, in 1814 he made his debut at Covent Garden Theatre, London, as Richard III. His personal resemblance to the crook backed tyrant conformed exactly to the tradi tions of the stage, and his personification of the character was in other respects so striking that he competed successfully with Edmund Kean, then just rising into fame. In 1821 he made his first appearance in the United States, at Petersburg, Va., and in New York, at the Park Theatre, in the succeeding year, on both of which occasions he assumed his favorite character of Richard HI. From that time until the close of his life he acted repeatedly in many theatres in the United States. During the latter part of his life he resided with his family at Baltimore, making occasional professional excursions to other cities. He had just re turned from a lucrative tour to California when he died. The range of characters which Booth assumed was limited, and was confined almost exclusively to those which he had studied in the beginning of his career. He is
most closely identified with that of Richard, in which, after the death of Edmund Kean, he had no rival. Among his other most familiar personations were Iago, Shylock, Hamlet, Sir Giles Overreach and Sir Edmund Mortimer. In his peculiar sphere,— the sudden and ner vous expression of concentrated passion,— as also in the more quiet and subtle passages of his delineations, he exercised a wonderful sway over his audience, and his appearance upon the stage has been known to awe a crowded and tumultuous house into instant silence. His presence and action, notwith standing his short stature, were imposing, and his face, originally molded after the antique type, was capable of wonderful expression under the influence of excitement. Several of his children inherited a portion of his dramatic talent,. and became prominent actors on the American stage.