BOOTH, BARTON ( 1681-1733). A celebrated English tragedian. He was of a Lancashire family, nearly related to Henry Booth, Earl of Warrington, and received a good education under the well-known Dr. Busby at Westmin ster. where he attracted notice by his acting in a Latin comedy (Terenee's Andria). Be was expected to enter the Church, but on being sent to Trinity College, Cambridge. he ran away in order to go upon the stage. Betterton (q.v.), to whom he applied, refused at first to help him, for fear of offending his family, and he went to Dublin, where he secured an engagement. Re turning after some success to London, he was now received by Betterton, and appeared in Lin coln's Inn Fields as :Maximus in Vale.iinian. He won immediate recognition. At Drury Lane, in 170S, he received immense applause as the Ghost in Hamlet, a part in which he is said never to have had an equal. April 14. 1713, he acted Cato in Addison's tragedy, upon which he became quite the rage among the nobility, who vied with each other in placing their carriages at his disposal; and he frequently stayed over night at Windsor, where the Court was then held. This seems to have been in some degree
due to the political conditions of the time, since Whig.s and Tories both professed the most com plete approval of the character of Cato; yet Booth won high critical commendation. Among his greatest parts were Brutus, Othello, and Belay VIII. In 1716 he published The Death of Dido; .1 Masque, and was the author of other poems. In 1728 he retired from the stage. He died at Ilampstead, leaving a widow—his second wife, Hester Santlo•. herself an actress of repu tation. Consult: Victor, Memoirs of the Life of Barton Booth ( London. 1733); Genest, History of the Stage (Bath. 1832) : Cibher, "Life and Character of Barton Booth." in lives and Char acters of the .110St Ent inen I Actors hnd Actresses (London, 1753) ; and Galt, Lives of the Players (London, 1831).