Edwin Booth

Edwin Booth (13 November 1833 – 7 June 1893) was an American actor, famous for his Shakespearian roles.

Quotes

• ... You should see the crowds of idle gapers that throng the depots at my arrival, and the swarms of females (they can't be called "ladies") that crowd the hotel halls and parlors in every place. It is unpleasant for me, who hate notoriety and publicity. They point at and touch me, exclaiming to one another, "That 's him!" "That 's Booth!" To-day they tried to get on the carriage that brought me to the hotel. Policemen had to keep the crowds back for me to pass through. I suppose they mean it all in kindness, but it is very disagreeable.
  • letter to his daughter, 27 February 1876, quoted in Edwin Booth; recollections by his daughter Edwina Booth Grossman, and letters to her and to his friends, 1902, p. 46

• I cannot grieve at death. It seems to me the greatest boon the Almighty has granted us. Consequently I cannot appreciated the grief of those who mourn the loss of loved ones, particularly if they go early from this hell of misery to which we have been doomed.
  • letter to William Winter, 23 April 1886, quoted in Life and art of Edwin Booth, pp. 306–307

• Time has not grown so very old since the most prominent members of our profession, though admired by the public eye, and lauded by its tongue, were socially, viewed askance, and regarded as "merely players."
  • dedication of the Actors' Monument in Evergreen Cemetery, Long Island, 6 June 1887, quoted in Life and art of Edwin Booth, p. 282

About Edwin Booth

• Edwin Booth had a very sweet character and a charming manner at rehearsals, which he detested. I think, after Hamlet, his Bertuccio in the " Fool's Revenge " was his finest representation.
  • quoted in Autobiographical sketch of Mrs. John Drew, pp. 113–114