Was it as if Luke Wilson had shot the president? Or was it more like Randy Quaid?
Meaning, did everyone already know JWBs Southern and rebel affiliations and thus had fallen out of favor? I’m not saying Randy is a one to one match, but people generally think he’s kinda nuts and he’s fallen out of favor.
Stephen Baldwin. Famous from a famous family but not as acclaimed as his brother.
Same for the other two but the diff in fame between Luke and Owen and Randy and Dennis isnt nearly as large as Stephen and Alec.
But I’ll allow it as Stephen is and has been something of a berk.
I would need a bit more context about American theater in the 1850s and 60s. I imagine Broadway was not yet what it would become, and the most prestigious acting gigs were likely in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago (Booth performed in all three, but not extensively). The bulk of his career was apparently in Washington, Baltimore and Richmond, then as now less desirable venues for a journeyman actor. It’s interesting that his father, Junius Brutus Booth, was named for a different famous assassin. I like the Steven Baldwin comparison, but would consider Mark Wahlberg as well.
In the 1850s, actors like John Wilkes Booth were prominent cultural figures, earning regional fame through live performances and newspaper acclaim. As part of the renowned Booth family, John stood out for both his talent and his polarizing persona. Without modern mass media, their influence was local and tied to the theater (an important social hub of the time). Their fame was modest compared to today’s global stars, but Booth and his peers were central to the cultural life of their era.
Kanye West is somewhat a modern equivalent to JWB, but more global.
Was JWB the 1860s equivalent of a Hollywood A-lister? That’s really the question here I think.
In other words, would it be “Did you hear? Lincoln was shot! By Richard Grieco!” or would it be “Did you hear? Dwayne Johnson shot Lincoln!”, where the emphasis was more on who did the shooting, than who got shot?
Probably in the middle. I think my Stephen Baldwin analogy was pretty apt when Stephen was a more active actor. From what I read JWB was a much more acclaimed actor than SB but he was eclipsed in fame by his brother.
It’s hard to equate the fame to today. They were famous amongst people who read newspapers and were from urban areas. He toured pretty extensively and was seen by a lot of people. He was famous enough to be photographed multiple times at a time when that was rare. I’m sure that the majority of people in the country had no idea who he was. Media just wasn’t as pervasive.
The Booth acting family have been dramatized several times, and not just because show folk love making their fascinating selves their own topic, but because it was a pretty solid story.
1955’s Prince of Players, which threw out all the historical research by Moss Hart in favor of mogul Daryl Zanuck’s gut instinct for what put butts on the velvet, did replicate the social dynamic of 100 years earlier: Raymond Massey as the patriarch who’d achieved recognition as an American excelling at what Britons felt was their domain (although Massey had done it as a Canadian and hadn’t succumbed to alcoholism). Richard Burton as Edwin Booth, a top tier Shakespearian of his generation. and John Derek as a pretty-boy matinee idol John Wilkes Booth.
As noted by @Horatio_Hellpop, the father Junius Brutus was named after an assassin, but John Wilkes was named after a famous rake-hell, and both he and John Derek should have remained among the Dash Riprock-level talents of their respective eras.
Some indication of how famous Edwin Booth was on his own is there is a statue of him in Gramercy Park NYC that was erected a couple of decades after his death. The Players is a social club in the area that still exists. It was founded by Edwin Booth. They still give out the Edwin Booth Lifetime Achievement Award to actors.
If you want to see the statue you can’t. At least you can’t get a good view from the other side of the fence.
Gramercy Park is the only privately owned park in Manhattan. You have to be a resident of the area to get a key.
There was no equivalent to Hollywood in the 1860s. A better question might be whether Booth the equivalent of a Broadway A-lister. He seems more like the actor who didn’t get the lead in the Broadway version, but might have been the headliner in national touring company.
I’m wondering if you just gave away the plot to Red One.
Random trivia: the exact date is uncertain, but at some point in the months preceding John Wilkes Booth assassinating Abraham Lincoln, John’s brother Edwin saved Robert Todd Lincoln after the president’s son had fallen onto the train tracks at a crowded station platform, pulling him away from the tracks just before the train rolled over the spot.
And the Booth Theatre on 45th St as well.
I teach middle school so my analogy is “it’s like a Hemsworth assassinating the president”.
“No not Thor. The one from the Hunger Games. You know, Liam.”
Jack Lemmon played Booth on live tv early in his career. During dress rehearsal, he got caught up in the bunting and broke his leg just as Booth had, though not as severely. Air time was only a few hours away, so he had to be wrapped up and went on to the performance
Worst. Odd Couple prequel. Ever.