Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 8.djvu/253

EDWIN BOOTH , 373 occasion a gold medal was presented to the actor by friends and admirers in New York ; the list of subscribers including the names of many well-known citi- zens. The Winter Garden Theatre was managed by Booth and his brother-in- law, the clever actor, J. S. Clarke, until Booth bought out Clarke and assumed the entire management himself. In 1865 the terrible tragedy occurred which blighted Booth's whole after-life, and for a time drove him from the stage. He did not act again until 1866; in 1867 the theatre was destroyed by fire, and in 1868 the corner-stone of a new building, to be known as Booth's Theatre, was laid, and in a short time New York was in possession, for the first time, of a thoroughly appointed, comfortable, and handsome theatre. This building was made famous by a number of Shakespearian revivals that for beauty, magnifi- cence, and scenic poetry have, we believe, never been equalled. We doubt if " Hamlet," 'Julius Caesar," or " Romeo and Juliet," have ever been presented with more satisfying completeness to the eye and to the imagination than in this theatre by Mr. Booth and his company. Although the theatre was in existence for thir- teen years, from 1868 to 1882, when it was finally closed, Mr. Booth's manage- ment lasted only about half that time. The speculation was not a fortunate one for the actor ; the expenses ate up all the profits, and Mr. Booth was bankrupted by his venture. He paid all his debts, however, and went bravely to work to build up a new fortune. He made a tour of the South, which was one long ovation, and in a season of eight weeks in San Francisco he took in $96,000. In 1880 he went to England and remained there two years. In 1882 he vis- ited Germany, acting in both countries with great success, and in 1883 he re- turned home and made a tour of America, repeating everywhere his old triumphs, and winning golden opinions from all classes of his countrymen. Edwin Booth died in New York, June 7, 1893, at the Players' Club, where he had lived for the last few years of his life. This was a building erected by his own munificence, fitted up with luxurious completeness, and presented to a society of his professional brethren for the use and behoof of his fellow-artists, reserving for himself only the modest apartment where he chose to live, in sym- pathetic touch with those who still pursued the noble art he had relinquished. Mr. Booth was twice married. By his first wife, Miss Mary Devlin, who died in 1863, he had one child, a daughter; by the second, Miss McVicker, he had no children. She died in 1881. ^^X^C^C^C^C <^Wer