I was vaguely aware that he was a stage actor, but according to Wikipedia, he was a fairly famous one. Here are a few quotes from theater critics of the time.
[quote]Jim Bishop wrote that Booth "developed into an outrageous scene stealer, but he played his parts with such heightened enthusiasm that the audiences idolized him."
[quote]Some critics called Booth "the handsomest man in America" and a "natural genius", and noted his having an "astonishing memory"; others were mixed in their estimation of his acting.
[quote]Poet and journalist Walt Whitman said of Booth's acting, "He would have flashes, passages, I thought of real genius."
However, it seems apt to call him an 18th century forerunner of a MAGA supporter.
[quote]When the Civil War began on April 12, 1861, Booth was starring in Albany, New York. He was outspoken in his admiration for the South's secession, publicly calling it "heroic." This so enraged local citizens that they demanded that he be banned from the stage for making "treasonable statements."
Then there's this account of a few creepy incidents from the months before Lincoln's assassination:
[quote]Family friend John T. Ford opened 1,500-seat Ford's Theatre on November 9 in Washington, DC. Booth was one of the first leading men to appear there, playing in Charles Selby's The Marble Heart. In this play, Booth portrayed a Greek sculptor in costume, making marble statues come to life. Lincoln watched the play from his box. At one point during the performance, Booth was said to have shaken his finger in Lincoln's direction as he delivered a line of dialogue. Lincoln's sister-in-law was sitting with him in the same presidential box where he was later slain; she turned to him and said, "Mr. Lincoln, he looks as if he meant that for you." The President replied, "He does look pretty sharp at me, doesn't he?" On another occasion, Lincoln's son Tad saw Booth perform. He said that the actor thrilled him, prompting Booth to give Tad a rose. Booth ignored an invitation to visit Lincoln between acts.
He seems to have been quite a heart-throb, but a mentally unstable Confederate sympathizer and white supremacist. His brother (also an actor) and sister Asia (a writer) were both pro-Union and were appalled by Booth's politics. eventually banned John from his home. After Lincoln's assassination, Asia and her family went so far as to emigrate to England, where they lived for the rest of their lives.
