The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-04-05
SAVANNAH, GA, SUNDAY, APRIL 5, 1891.

up coed part Of the Company. Life vac
then a gamble with them all, ard Edwin
on account OF bis retiring manners, Jared
worse than all. He drifted off 20 Australia
and Honolulu, gathering much experience
but little money. He finally returned to
California with Laura Keene his support.
tie did very well in a round of characters in
San Francisco, but finally drifted off with
company to the mining towns The venture
was not very successful, and there was more
or less of battle from the beginning to tie
end OF the tour; but before it had ended
Booth was established along the Golden
Gate, and his departure for home
was made au ovation. He reached his
fathers house in HartfordEcounty, to open
soon afterward at the Front Street Theater
IN Baltimore, the play being Richard Ill"
An engagement in New York followed and
a trip TO Boston established his reputation
as the coming tragedian of his time. In 1857
he played his first important engagement in
New York, made hit and thenceforth his
career was onward and upward. He trav-
eled from one end of the country to the
other. acting ell the leading Shake iperian
roles and filling to the full che mantle which
his fathers death had thrown upon his
shoulders. John Wilkes was at that time
too young to be q competitor. Edwin
Booth played with John Mccullough, L. L.
Davenport and Lawrence Barrett before
the war; but after the clash Of swords he
went by himself, until recently, when he
joined fortunes with the actor who has just
died. He had little in common with any of
the men who stood compatrlot with him in
the artistic field, because of his retiring
habits.
Perhaps there is no more interesting
phase Of his life than his appearance in
New York for 100 nights in the character
OF Hamlet" That was nearly twenty-five
years ago. Then run of hundred nights
was something unheard of, and yet he
played the melancholy Dane at the very
pinnacle of his power and then went back
to San Francisco to receive an ovation
after nearly quarter of a century Of abb
sence from the Pacific coast, where he
practically began his artist career.
Mr.. Booths career surmounts that of any
other man now on the stage, excepting
Joseph jefferson. To him Mr.. Booth owes
much. The play Of "a FOOLS Revenge
was sent to RIP Van Winkle," but he
could find nothing in the character for a
comedian. He gave it to Mr.. Booth, who
at first saw little in it for him, and the char
acter Of "Bertruccio" did not strike him
until after he had studied it for a long time.
Perhaps it was ten years before he really
fou I'd that in this play he had one Of bis
aften as he thought it would win. Strong
as Booth is in "Bertruccio" he plays
"Richelieu" with remarkable power.
"Iago" is perhaps his greatest part. At
least he thinks 81. The public take much
the same view as does the artist, and Mr..
Booth certainly gives great impersonation
of the treacherous '1ago," and few men
have ever lived who could play "Othellon
when Edwin Booth acted the willy and living
NJ xrk,r, haC
given SO artistic flush to this misera BILE
character as Edwin Booth.
Hamlet" is, in many respects, Mr..
Booths greatest character. When he has
the mind he frequently gives some touches
to the melancholy Dane that no other man
has ever approached, and l have often
thought that in the grave digging scene he
surpassed any man ever saw.
In estimating the character Of Edwin
Boo it is well to take many things into
consideration. He was handicapped from
the start with the genius of father whose
traditions fill up great part of the stage
life of this country. Men like Forrest.
Booth and Davenport are not often found
in any profession, and TO live and make
record under the shadow of their influence
is serious task. We aresapU to make i1eaI
and no matter how we'll some new aspiran,
may do we are constantly gauging him bv
the idol that we have long siuce set up for
ourselves Then the shadow of a great
crime came upon the family name early in
his career and to a greater or less extent
marred the later years of his professional
life, No one ever held him accountable for
it in any way; but the sorrow was as cutting
and the results as demoraliziHg as even his
worst enemy could wish.
One incident will illustrate how far Mr.
Booth was affected by his fathers reputa.
ton. Ben DeBar, hinslf an old actor of
strong powers, had the theater in st. Louis.
Edwin Booth was to play there. While
DeBar was a liberal man outside of his
theater, he was stingy in it, and would not
consent to any expenditure on his stage.
Mr.. Booth was rehearsing the grave digging
scene and turning to the stage manager said,
~ want q calcium light here"
81 am sorry, Mr.. Booth, but you will havs
to see Mr.. DeBar about that, | have no
authority to incur any expense" Mr.. De-
Bar was sent for and soon appeared.
''BeD, | want a calcium light upon this
scene, said Booth.
Edwin" rejoined Mr.. DeBar "your
father never needed calcium light when
he played Hamlet.
This ended the argument, Mr.. Booth turn
ing away with the rejoinder:
"Never mind the light, Bsn."
1t IS in melancholy and subtle parts that
Mr.. Booth succeeds best, according to my
mind. never regarded him as much of a
lover, for he lacks that sentiment and spirit
that calls out the best emotions of the
heart. About the time of his marriage in
1860 to Miss Devlin, he played lovers parts
with some spirit. But after he failed in
Booths theater on tho corner of Twenty
third and Sixth avenue and married, his
second wife, Miss McVicker, whom he met
as child when playing his first engagement
in Chicago, he seemed to devote himself
almost entirely to the serious, and
give him an opportunity for
the solemn and tragic. Edwin Booth is not
always, however. solemn and tragic "a
many people may suppose. Years and the
severe exactions that have been put upon
him have made him shun society more or
less; but remember one night seeing him
initiated into the famous Clover club of
and enter into the spirit of
the occasion as completely as any of the
of the organization. AS he took
the baby's chair and the rattle was placed
around his neck he said, with evident good
humor:
"Gentlemen, this is by no means the first
time that have played the fool, ID it is
not the lasG.n
Mr.. Booth is just now rounding out his
forty years Of experience Of the stage. Ever
since the war he has filed the public eve
more completely than any actor who has
trod the boards. He has Withstcod severe
criticism and yet enjoyed the confidence of
the public Whether he will ever act again
or not is a question. But taking IL all In all