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EJ Phillips
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The first Booth EJ Phillips seems to have met was
Junius Brutus Booth Jr. when she played Emilia to his Iago, in Othello
at Pike's Opera House in Cincinnati in April 1865 . At the end of this
engagement Lincoln was assassinated by Junius Brutus Booth Jr.'s brother John
Wilkes Booth. Junius Jr. was married to
Agnes Booth from
1867-1883 [his death] who kept Booth as her stage name, even after marrying John
Schoeffel in 1885, manager of Boston's Tremont Theatre.
John Nickinson's youngest daughter from his first
marriage Isabella Nickinson Walcott acted with all three Booth brothers. She played Calphurnia
and
her husband Charles WalcottJr. Octavius Caesar , with Edwin [Brutus], Junius
Brutus Jr.[Cassius] and John Wilkes [Marc Anthony] Booth in Julius
Caesar Nov
25,1864 at the Winter Garden, New York, in the
Shakespeare Statue Fund Benefit.
This is the only time all three Booth brothers performed together.
Charles Walcott Jr, his wife Isabella and and Nickinson son-in-law Charles
Peters, as well as EJ Phillips’ colleague Owen Fawcett also appeared in Edwin
Booth’s “Hundred Nights Hamlet”
running from Nov 26 1864-March 22 1865 at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York.
John
Wilkes Booth 1838-1865
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth
EJ Phillips' manager
AM
Palmer was closely associated with Edwin Booth. The
Actor's Fund of
America was incorporated in 1882. AM Palmer was Vice President, and Edwin
Booth one of the first 17 trustees. Edwin Booth founded the Players Club and AM
Palmer was the first Treasurer and Vice President.
“We do not mingle enough with minds that influence the world,” Booth said of his
fellow actors, “We should measure ourselves through personal contact with
outsiders … I want my club to be a place where actors are away from the glamour
of the theatre.” Two years after Edwin Booth wrote these words to his
friend, theatre manager Albert Palmer, his dream was realized. In May 1888, he
paid $75,000 to purchase a townhouse at 16 Gramercy Park South in New York City.
History of the Players' Club
http://www.theplayersnyc.org/history '
Edwin Booth
Players Club NYC
Players Club medallions
From a newspaper advertisement in the Cincinnati
Daily Gazette,
April 14, 1865.
PIKE’S OPERA HOUSE.
GRAND MATINEE
Saturday Afternoon, April 15.
The eminent Tragedian,
Junius Brutus Booth,
Will appear in conjunction with the
DRAMATIC COMPANY,
And renowned
ZAVISTOWSKI TROUPE...
BENEFIT of the popular Artiste,
MISS E. J. PHILLIPS, [Let's hope she got the money from this performance.]
And positively last night of the eminent tragedian,
JUNIUS BRUTUS BOOTH.
Lincoln Originals, Cincinnati Museum Center exhibit,
http://library.cincymuseum.org/lincoln/lincolnoriginals.htm
Othello playbill April 1865, Pike's Opera House, Cincinnati, Ohio
Junius Brutus Booth Jr. Wikimedia Commons
Did the April 14th performance
take place at all? Did EJ Phillips receive any money from her benefit? Did the
entire acting company have to leave town under cover? How soon were they able
to work again? EJ Phillips’ had been widowed in 1864, and was a single
parent with two small children to support. Hattie was 5 1/2 and
Albert was almost 2.
Junius Brutus Booth, Jr. (1821-1883)
Brother of Edwin and husband of Agnes
Booth who still used his name professionally, though she
had been widowed and remarried by the time of these letters. His father Junius
Brutus Booth and brother Edwin had been members of the "Providence Museum
Company", organized in 1848 in Rhode Island which at one time included John
and Charlotte Nickinson. EJ Phillips was playing with Junius
Brutus Booth Jr. in Othello
in Cincinnati the night Lincoln was assassinated.
He was also married to Clementina DeBar
Booth. (1840-1855). She was the younger sister of Ben De Bar, and
mother of Blanche DeBar.
"Though
a relatively undistinguished actor, Junius Jr. was highly regarded for his
performances as King
John and Cassius in Julius
Caesar"
Wikipedia, accessed 2018 Feb 10
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junius_Brutus_Booth_Jr.
Findagrave
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11573822/junius-brutus-booth
Buried Rosedale Cemetery, Manchester by the sea, Massachusetts
Agnes Booth (1846-1910)
Born in Australia, first appeared in the US aged 12 in San Francisco as a child
dancer. Married at 16 to Harry Perry and widowed a year later. She
married Junius
Brutus Booth, Jr. (brother of Edwin and son of the more
famous actor of the same name) in 1865 (and was widowed again in 1883).
Junius Brutus Booth Jr. appeared with EJ Phillips in Othello the
night John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln (Apr. 1865, Cincinnati
Ohio)
Agnes
Booth, Between the Acts cigarette card
She surprised many with her
excellent comic skills as the openly selfish Belinda Treherne in Engaged in
1879...Joining AM Palmer when his ensemble was
at its height, she won distinction as the deceived Mrs. Ralston in Jim
the Penman (1886); Mrs. Seabrook, the woman with a secret
in Captain
Swift (1888); the comic, uninhibited Joan Bryson, otherwise
known as Aunt
Jack (1889).
After leaving Palmer in 1892, her
star began to wane, to some extent because of poorly chosen vehicles, but also
because her robust acting style was seen as superannuated by the newer
naturalistic schools. Oxford
Companion to American Theatre
Agnes Booth was 37 in 1883. She
appeared with EJ Phillips in Pink
Dominoes in 1877. Old
Love Letters was described as an Agnes Booth vehicle since
1878. Described in a New York Times review as a star of Jim
the Penman. EJP reports that she wore "some very fine dresses" Nov.
1886 Her second husband Junius
Brutus Booth Jr. died in Sept. 1883. Her third
husband, Julius Schoeffel is the one occasionally mentioned in these letters..
Her son Sydney
Barton Booth [1873-1937] joined Richard
Mansfield's company in June 1888. Sarony photo http://ufdc.ufl.edu/part1/results/?t=%22Booth+Sydney%22
Buried at Rosedale Cemetery, Manchester by the Sea
Massachusetts http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11575508
Palmer and company went to
Washington DC in 1887 for a special Actors'
Fund Benefit performance of Jim the Penman
The Washington Post of April 19, 1887 reported "ACTORS
TAKE THE TOWN" A GREAT DAY IN THE HISTORY OF MANAGER PALMER'S COMPANY.
They are
received by the President and Cabinet Officers and present "Jim the Penman" to a
Distinguished Audience.
The
friends of Manager Palmer and his Madison
Square Company spared
no pains yesterday to make the stay of the party in Washington as pleasant as
possible. The morning was spent in driving about the city to various points of
interest, and at half past one o'clock the entire party visited the White House,
where they were to be received by President
Cleveland.
They first were shown through the Red, Blue and Green Parlors, and then into the
East Room, where they waited for the President. Mr. Cleveland did not keep them
waiting long, but soon entered the room through the folding doors leading to the
private parts of the house. Mr. Roessie introduced Mr. Palmer, who in turn
introduced his son and daughter, and then his company beginning with Mrs.
Agnes Booth. ...
From the White House the party drove over to the State Department, where they
were shown into the Diplomatic Reception Room. Here they were welcomed by Second
Assistant Secretary Adee. While waiting for the Secretary, Mrs.. Booth's eyes
fell on the picture of Daniel Webster. "Oh how much he looks like Edwin"
she exclaimed. This called the attention of the entire party to the portrait
which, especially about the forehead and the eyes, might be passed for a
portrait of the great tragedian Edwin
Booth.
Agnes Booth (1843-1910) as
Mrs Ralston in Jim the Penman
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Booth#/media/File:Agnes_Booth_2.jpg
Agnes Booth in Aunt Jack, National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an10698679-1
NY Times obituary January 4, 1910 https://www.nytimes.com/1910/01/04/archives/agnes-booth.html
Agnes Booth are we so soon forgot?
NY Times
https://www.nytimes.com/1910/01/04/archives/agnes-booth.html
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Booth
Buried at Rosedale Cemetery, Manchester by the Sea Massachusetts
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11574594
Actors Fund Fair 1892
The Actor's
Fund Fair was
held May 2-7, 1892 in Stanford White's new (opened 1890) Madison
Square Garden, with the objetiove
of raising money for. an orphanage for the childrne of deceased actors. It
raised $180,000.
EJ Phillips was chairmnan of Subcommittee Nol 24 [of 40} charged with
getting donations of toys from toy stores.
Georgia Cayvan got more votes than Agnes Booth as the most popular lady at the
Fair. Al Hayman, AM Palmer and Mrs. Palmer made speeches and the naphtha
[powered] launch [boat] was awarded to Agnes Booth NY Times May 8, 1892
https://www.nytimes.com/1892/05/08/archives/a-downpour-of-dollars-money-flowed-into-the-actors-fund-treasury.html
The fair began at 8 PM with its officers mounting a set of stairs into an
overhanging box on the south side of the building. Jefferson entered moving
"lightly up the stairs" with Palmer and the much enfeebled
Edwin Booth,
who was unable to speak publicly. Both actors were warmly applauded, and
Jefferson made a brief speech. Then Booth and Jefferson bowed, hand in hand, to
an applauding audience, while the band played The Star Spangled banner," and
Mrs. AM Palmer waved the American flag above them.Bloom,
Arthur, Joseph Jefferson: Dean of the American Theatre, Savannah, Frederic C.
Beil, 2000
Actor's Fund Fair Souvenir Programme, Madison Square Garden
May 2nd 3rd https://archive.org/details/souvenirprogramm00acto
See the Agnes Booth cigar on page 18.
Actors'
Fund Fair Harpers Weekly May 1892
Lawrence Barrett
(1838-1891) was a great friend of Edwin
Booth. Strang cites "the summer
of 1870 saw the real turning-point in Lawrence Barrett's life". Barrett
played Cassius in Julius Caesar in a production at Niblo's Garden, New York.
Barrett played parts opposite Edwin Booth in the new Booth's Theatre for four
months starting in December. 'In December 1871, he was once more a manager
in New Orleans.'
EJ Phillips was a member of Barrett's stock company in New
Orleans and traveled with him to throughout the South and
Midwest from 1871 until she went to the Chestnut St theatre in Philadelphia in
1875.
"Booth's
financial
affairs improved permanently when, in 1886, he formed a business and acting
partnership with the American actor-manager Lawrence
Barrett.
" Encyclopedia Brittanica "Edwin Booth"
Twentieth century quilt
A
piece of purple and old gold
brocade comes next. That was used for a tea gown in
"Captain
Swift
"[1888]. Agnes
Booth [wife
of Junius
Brutus Booth Jr.,
brother to Edwin and
John Wilkes] and Maurice
Barrymore [father
of Ethel, Lionel and John] were in that.
Bibliography
Bogar, Thomas A, Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination: Untold story of the
actors and stagehands at Ford's Theatre, Regnery History, 2013
https://www.amazon.com/Backstage-Lincoln-Assassination-Stagehands-Theatre/dp/1621570835/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
Centennial History of Cincinnati, 1904 Chapter XLIII Cincinnati in War Time
http://books.google.com/books?id=eJxABLtxX60C&q=theatre#v=snippet&q=war%20time&f=false
Ferguson,
William Jason, I saw Booth Shoot Lincoln, Pemberton Press 1969
George, Rebecca Langston, The
Booth Brothers: Drama, Fame and the Death of President Lincoln, Capstone Press,
2018
Grossman, Edwina Booth
Edwin Booth: Recollections by his daughter, Edwina Booth Grossman, and Letters
to Her and to His Friends.” Copyright, 1894, Century Company, New York excerpt http://www.authorama.com/19th-century-actor-autobiographies-3.html
Tebbel, John, A Certain Club: One Hundred Years of the Players 1888-1988,
Hampden/Booth Theatre Library, 1989 has chapters on Booth, as a founder of the
Players Club.
Titone, Nora, My thoughts be bloody: The rivalry between Edwin and John Wilikes
Booth that led to an Amerian Tragedy. Focus is on John Wilkes and Edwin, but
also discusses Junius Brutus Booth Jr and
Adam Badeau I was startled to read that Edwin Booth
produced Our American Cousin in New York at the Winter Garden theate in
September 1865.
Winter, William Shadows of the Stage 1892 has a chapter on Edwin Booth
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18860/18860-h/18860-h.htm#Page_63
Lincolnconspirators.com, Dave Taylor
https://lincolnconspirators.com/about/
Edwin Booth papers 1864-1881, Univ of Rochester
https://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/finding-aids/D129
Edwin Booth recordings, Harvard Theatre Collection, Harvard Crimson 1935
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1935/12/6/historical-recording-of-edwin-booth-placed/
Should check and see if this is available.
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Booth
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Booth
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth
Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junius_Brutus_Booth_Jr.
Last revised August 24, 2020
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Phillips Facebook Fan Page
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Junius Brutus Booth Jr. Wikimedia Commons
