Editing John Wilkes Booth (section)

===1850s===
[[File:Richmond Theatre (VA) in 1858.jpg|thumb|The Richmond Theatre, [[Richmond, Virginia]] in 1858, when Booth, who had started acting in 1855, made his first stage appearance there in the [[repertory company]]]]
Booth made his stage debut at age 17 on August 14, 1855, in the supporting role of the Earl of Richmond in ''[[Richard III (play)|Richard III]]'' at Baltimore's Charles Street Theatre.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ghostsofbaltimore.org/2013/09/09/original-ad-john-wilkes-booths-acting-debut/ |title=Original Ad For John Wilkes Booth's Acting Debut |last=Tom |date=September 9, 2013 |website=Ghosts of Baltimore |access-date=February 17, 2019 |archive-date=February 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190218021259/https://ghostsofbaltimore.org/2013/09/09/original-ad-john-wilkes-booths-acting-debut/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Smith1992 pp61–62">Smith, pp. 61–62.</ref><ref>Kauffman, ''American Brutus'', p. 95.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Original Ad for John Wilkes Booth's Acting Debut |date=September 9, 2013 |url=http://ghostsofbaltimore.org/2013/09/09/original-ad-john-wilkes-booths-acting-debut/ |publisher=Ghosts of Baltimore |access-date=September 9, 2013 |archive-date=February 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227122005/https://ghostsofbaltimore.org/2013/09/09/original-ad-john-wilkes-booths-acting-debut/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The audience jeered at him when he missed some of his lines.<ref name="Smith1992 pp61–62" /><ref name="Bishop1955 pp63–64">{{cite book |last=Bishop |first=Jim |author-link=Jim Bishop |title=The Day Lincoln Was Shot |url=https://archive.org/details/daylincolnwassho00bish |url-access=registration |publisher=Harper & Row |year=1955 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/daylincolnwassho00bish/page/63 63–64] |lccn=54012170}}</ref> He also began acting at Baltimore's [[Holliday Street Theater]], owned by [[John T. Ford]], where the Booths had performed frequently.<ref name="SheadsToomey1997">{{cite book |title=Baltimore During the Civil War |publisher=Toomey |location=Linthicum, MD |year=1997 |isbn=0-9612670-7-0 |pages=77–79 |last=Sheads |first=Scott |last2=Toomey |first2=Daniel}}</ref> In 1857 he joined the stock company of the [[Arch Street Theatre]] in [[Philadelphia]], where he played for a full season.<ref>Kimmel, p. 149.</ref> At his request, he was billed as "J. B. Wilkes", a pseudonym meant to avoid comparison with other members of his famous thespian family.<ref name="Smith1992 pp61–62" /><ref>{{cite book |title=The Lincoln Conspiracy |publisher=Buccaneer |year=1994 |isbn=1-56849-531-5 |page=24 |last=Balsiger |first=David |last2=Sellier |first2=Charles Jr.}}</ref> [[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."<ref name="Bishop1955 pp63–64" /> In February 1858, he played in ''[[Lucrezia Borgia (opera)|Lucrezia Borgia]]'' at the Arch Street Theatre. On opening night, he experienced stage fright and stumbled over one of his lines. Instead of introducing himself by saying, "Madame, I am Petruchio Pandolfo", he stammered, "Madame, I am Pondolfio Pet—Pedolfio Pat—Pantuchio Ped—dammit! Who am I?", causing the audience to roar with laughter.<ref name="Smith1992 pp61–62" /><ref>Kimmel, p. 150.</ref>

Later that year, Booth played the part of [[Mohegan Indian Tribe|Mohegan Indian Chief]] [[Uncas]] in a play staged in [[Petersburg, Virginia]], and then became a [[stock company (acting)|stock company actor]] at the [[Richmond Theatre (Richmond, Virginia)|Richmond Theatre]] (then known as the Marshall Theatre) in Virginia which was co-managed by [[George Kunkel (theatre manager)|George Kunkel]], [[John T. Ford]], and Thomas L. Moxley.<ref>Mullenix, p. 27</ref> There he became increasingly popular with audiences for his energetic performances.<ref name="Kimmel">Kimmel, pp. 151–153.</ref> On October 5, 1858, he played the part of [[Horatio (Hamlet)|Horatio]] in ''[[Hamlet]]'', alongside his older brother Edwin in the [[Prince Hamlet|title role]]. Afterward, Edwin led him to the theater's footlights and said to the audience, "I think he's done well, don't you?" In response, the audience applauded loudly and cried, "Yes! Yes!"<ref name="Kimmel" /> In all, Booth performed in 83 plays in 1858. Booth said that, of all Shakespearean characters, his favorite role was [[Brutus]], the slayer of a [[Julius Caesar|tyrant]].<ref name="Goodrich2005 pp35–36">Goodrich, pp. 35–36.</ref>

[[File:John Wilkes Booth CDV by Black & Case.jpg|thumb|upright|A ''[[carte de visite]]'' of John Wilkes Booth]]
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.<ref name="Goodrich2005 pp35–36" /><ref>Bishop, p. 23.</ref> He stood {{convert|5|ft|8|in|m}} tall, had jet-black hair, and was lean and athletic.<ref name="Donald1995 p585">{{cite book |first=David Herbert |last=Donald |author-link=David Herbert Donald |title=Lincoln |url=https://archive.org/details/lincoln00dona |url-access=registration |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |year=1995 |isbn=0-684-80846-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/lincoln00dona/page/585 585]}}</ref> Noted Civil War reporter [[George Alfred Townsend]] described him as a "muscular, perfect man" with "curling hair, like a Corinthian capital".<ref>Townsend, p. 26.</ref> Booth's stage performances were often characterized by his contemporaries as acrobatic and intensely physical, with him leaping upon the stage and gesturing with passion.<ref name="Donald1995 p585" /><ref name="Thomas1952 p519">{{cite book |first=Benjamin P. |last=Thomas |title=Abraham Lincoln, a Biography |url=https://archive.org/details/abrahamlincolnbi00thom_0 |publisher=[[Knopf Doubleday]] |location=New York City |year=1952 |page=[https://archive.org/details/abrahamlincolnbi00thom_0/page/519 519] |lccn=52006425}}</ref> He was an excellent swordsman, although a fellow actor once recalled that Booth occasionally cut himself with his own sword.<ref name="Donald1995 p585" />

Historian [[Benjamin Platt Thomas]] wrote that Booth "won celebrity with theater-goers by his romantic personal attraction", and that he was "too impatient for hard study" and his "brilliant talents had failed of full development."<ref name="Thomas1952 p519" /> Author Gene Smith wrote that Booth's acting may not have been as precise as his brother Edwin's, but his strikingly handsome appearance enthralled women.<ref>Smith, pp. 71–72.</ref> As the 1850s drew to a close, Booth was becoming wealthy as an actor, earning $20,000 a year ({{Inflation|US|20000|1860|fmt=eq|r=-5}}).