The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-11-17
An Actor Of The "Old School
 Talks Abont The Booth Family
MT. James Henry Lewis, With Five Years to His Credit Now Playing the Role of Hans Grunbach in The Goose Girl at the Bijou, is Still Most Charm
 ing and Interesting Gentleman
BY DOLLY DALRYMPLE

cused of gyneolatory, in itC most super 1ative form. He made love to every worl- an he saw; he was an ideal lover and ro,nantacist. On the shoulders of Edwin Booth, the mantle of his illustrious father fell. He made his debut when he was 16 years old as Trieslie, in Richard TIT, and it was in 1859 that I joined his company. The play was 'Evadne,' afterwards made famous, by Mary Anderson, and at the Old Walnut Street Theater in Philadel- phja, Edwin Booth played the role of Ludovico, while I played Colonial Aft erwards, I played Laertes to his Hamlet also the King and the Ghost. The crit icues-many of them-have tried to place Booths Hamlet as the greatest that ever was played, but in my opinion, Fanny Danvenports father, Edwin L. Davenport, vas the greatest Hamlet tha1 ever lived. But he failed to convince. That was Booths strong point; his mental attitude. Every role that he played he endeavored to get inside of it; and when he was able for the time being to become the char acter he was playing, then it was that the secret of his marvellous expression was known. I can hear his voice now saying:
 That bourne from which No traveller returns.'
 Always accenting the No-thus leav- ing an open question-a vastly different Interpretation from that which Davenport and other noted scholars and actors gave the line.
 After the murder Of Lincoln Edwin Booth became so morbid and melancholy over his brother that he was scarcely himself," said MT. Lewis slowly. And let me say right here that any people who think that there are those alive to- day who are in possession of some of the articles of clothing or personal effects of John Wilkes Booth-are laboring under a nisapprenhension. Every garment of clothing worn by John Wilkes Booth was sent to Canada, afterwards being res- cued by John Mccullough. and at ? o'clock one morning, Edwin Booth burned every yestige, of anything that belonged to his brother, and not thing is left to tell the tale.
 Booth was a great Shylock-one of his greatest roles, in fact" said MT. Lewis, but with all his mentality and wonderful art, he lacked just the neces-
 
 piled when Lawrence Barrett joined forces with him. Booth had no commer- cial instinct; Barrett had; and Booths s exchequer was largely augmented by the faculty which MT. Barrett possessed of turning his talent to practical use." Would Booth have made a great Cy- rano or would he have portrayed pow erfully MT Stephen Phillips Gotlieb, which predominates Israeli" MT. Lewis repeated my question. Or would he have | succeeded in the modern drama? He never would have been as great Cyrano as MT. Mansfield; he paid too little attention to detail; as for the Phillips role-yes | he would have made a tremendous sue | cess of Gotlieb.''
 And there is no member of the Booth | family to perpetuate the name' unused Edwin Booths only daughter-Edwina | is happily married and lives in the east Agnes Booth, the daughter of the younger Junius Brutus Booth, has been a great
 actress in her time, Sbut there is none l other. There could never be a reproduc- | ton of Edwin Booth; of his repose; his | pcfse; his exquisite art; his force; his mental attitude.-and we shall never see him again as Othello or Hamlet or Shy lock, or in any of his great roles-except | as we see him in our memories-but those great portraits which he has left in the hearts of the generation to whom he played. are still the greatest force today for maintaining high standards of dra- matic art. Would that we had many more such inspiring pictures!''