Here's the way to explain how famous John Wilkes Booth was BEFORE - imagine, it's 1996, you are 14, Leonardo Dicaprio is the most handsome person you have ever seen AND we just learned that he can do Shakespeare (We are are SURE that understanding Shakespeare in any way makes you smart, so you are trying) -- THEN Leo kills someone. You have to take down your Teen People pictures of him as you sob and listen to "Young Hearts Run Free." Does that make sense? John Wilkes Booth came from the most famous family of actors, he was literally called 'The most handsome man in America' - today, we talk about the Booth Family, John's southern leanings, and the decision to kill our dear Abe.
Here's the way to explain how famous John Wilkes Booth was BEFORE - imagine, it's 1996, you are 14, Leonardo Dicaprio is the most handsome person you have ever seen AND we just learned that he can do Shakespeare (We are are SURE that understanding Shakespeare in any way makes you smart, so you are trying) -- THEN Leo kills someone. You have to take down your Teen People pictures of him as you sob and listen to "Young Hearts Run Free."
Does that make sense?
John Wilkes Booth came from the most famous family of actors, he was literally called 'The most handsome man in America' - today, we talk about the Booth Family, John's southern leanings, and the decision to kill our dear Abe.
Sources
John Wilkes Booth Goes from Actor to Assassin (feat. Adam Scott & Will Forte) - Drunk History - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAVInu2TE7on- it’s fine.
Booth - by Karen Joy Fowler - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/08/books/review-booth-karen-joy-fowler.html
https://www.belairmd.org/Calendar.aspx?EID=3886
https://lincolnconspirators.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opxub7ASf_Q&t=455s
- John Wilkes Booth: Assassin In The Spotlight | Full Documentary | Biography
Hi Friends! Our transcripts aren't perfect, but I wanted to make sure you had something - if you'd like an edited transcript, I'd be happy to prioritize one for you - please email doomedtofailpod@gmail.com - Thanks! - Taylor
Doom to Fail brings you history's most notorious disasters and epic failures
>> Taylor: In the matter of the people of State of California vs. Oriental James Simpson, case number BA097.
>> Farz: And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you.
>> Taylor: Ask what you can do for your country. Boom.
>> Farz: we are live and recording. Taylor, how are you?
>> Taylor: Good. How are you?
>> Farz: So I'm sick, actually, but I like my voice when I'm sick. It's very radio. It's very deep. It's very guttural. M. Some might say masculine, some might say that. But nobody, nobody listening to this. Probably. So cool. We are recording, and today's a fresh day, and Taylor's got a fresh story.
>> Taylor: I do. Wait, let me say welcome to Doom to Fail. I'm Taylor, joined by Fars. We bring you history's most notorious disasters and epic failures. And earlier this week, Fars told us a scary story about planes colliding. And I have. I don't know. It's not a scary story, but it's a fun one.
>> Farz: You got a fun story.
>> Taylor: We'll. We'll define the word fun later. I learned a lot. Does that count? That's fun.
>> Farz: okay. That's fun.
>> Taylor: Great.
So, I was reading a historical fiction book about famous shooters
So, I had mentioned a couple weeks ago that I was reading a historical fiction book. And this is. This is the one, but I'm going to make you guess so. The author of the book that I read, which I'll tell you the name later, if I told you now, you would know who I was talking about. Her name is Karen J. Fowler. And in the afterword of the book, she said what she was trying to understand in her research. And so, like, stuff she wrote, some of it is fact, some of it is like, her extrapolating. Obviously, that's historical fiction. Is. But she wanted to try to understand what the family of someone infamous for doing something really awful was. Like, in, her example, she said, like, the family of a school shooter. How do you. Who are you before this happens to you? Who are you after? How did the family react? What made this one person in the family like this? Was the rest of the family like this? Like what. What happened and how the family react? So I learned a lot about the family of this person. and then a lot of it, I, like, have picked out what was true or not based on, like, other research. And can you think of someone who was famous for shooting someone? M. I have three. I have three hints. That's hint number one.
>> Farz: Three. Go. Got Oswald. Booth.
>> Taylor: Oh, yeah, it's Booth. It's Booth.
>> Farz: Oh, it's Booth. Okay.
>> Taylor: Yeah. So my Other two hints were he was the most handsome man in America, and he was a very famous professional actor.
>> Farz: I thought you were gonna say me.
>> Taylor: But no, and I was going to also say that it. I'm trying to, like, express to you how famous the Booth family was. And so I was like, it's like the Baldwin brothers. But then Alec Baldwin actually did shoot someone. So I took that example away from my example. So I was like, it's like, if the President of the United States was a huge fan of Elle Fanning, he was like, I love the great. I love her work. And then Dakota Fanning shot him.
>> Farz: That's a. That's probably a good example. There's. The whole metaphor is, like, rife with issues that, like, could get caught in some sort of, like, filters on the radio. Because Trump did get shot.
>> Taylor: No, totally. But I don't think. But I think that the point is, like. Yeah, but, like, who is the person who shot at Trump? I have no idea.
>> Farz: You know, So I will say, like, when you started talking about this, my immediate thought was that you're talking about Dylan Kleeble's mom, because she is super active on the circuit. Talking about, like, basically, she was, like, terrorized. And, like, obviously she's living in complete hell because she lost her kid. Her kid did something horrible. A bunch of people lost her kids. Like, and she's made a point to be very vocal about it. So I thought we're gonna go in that direction. But it's, like, the exact same concept. It sounds like you're gonna be.
>> Taylor: Yeah, yeah. But I also just. I just want to stress, like, how, famous he was, and not just him, but his family. Like, these are famous people. Everybody in America who, like, how famous could you have been?
>> Farz: That what. It was America in, like, the 1860s. There's only, like, 100 of us, isn't there?
>> Taylor: No, there's a lot. Far as we had a civil war during that time, so there were enough people to have a civil war and have the most Americans die in a war than any other war.
>> Farz: Right? Like, maybe, like, a million.
>> Taylor: There are a lot of people here.
>> Farz: Fine.
>> Taylor: And anyone who knew the theater existed knew about the booths, basically. Like, that's. They knew them. So let me tell you about them. They weren't necessarily rich, but they were, like, super famous.
You need to know Shakespeare to understand this story
So we'll go to England to where his parents were born, and we need to know Shakespeare to understand this. I do not know Shakespeare. I don't know what happens in Richard iii. I know what happens in Macbeth. I've seen Macbeth. I know it happens in Romeo and Juliet because I went to middle school, but like I don't really know a lot.
>> Farz: I know the Claire for Lonnie and Oh my God, Leonardo DiCaprio version.
>> Taylor: Yeah, I know the Wait, the Claire Dean's Claire Danes.
>> Farz: Who's Claire for Lonnie? Where that guy?
>> Taylor: I have no idea. I've never heard that word.
>> Farz: Is that a real person? M. We gotta straighten this out before.
>> Taylor: Anyway, that movie's great. Other things I know. Wait, I also love the Much Ado About Nothing with Can I Ravis.
>> Farz: Oh, I remember. yeah, okay, so I remember I had a crush on Claire Forlani when I was a kid. So she was the girl in Meet Joe Black that Brad Pitt's character fell in love with.
>> Taylor: No, I know exactly. Talking about she is very pretty.
>> Farz: Sorry, it says nothing to do with your story. Please keep going.
>> Taylor: no, no, no, it's fine.
John Wilkes Booth was born in England on May 1, 1796
Oh, while I was over there, for some reason looking at Claire for Lonnie online, I want to also add that John Wilkes booth is 5 8. I think I'm gonna say that later, but I just want to tell you that so okay, so okay, but let's go over to England. Think about this, this Shakespearean family. So the father of the family is Junius J U N I U S Junius Brutus Booth, which is a great name. He was born on May 1, 1796. So he's born in England. His father was a huge supporter of the United of the US revolution. So his, his parents were. His family was kind like we don't love England. Anyway. His mother was related to a man named John wilkes. So about 75 years before, before all of this, John Wilkes was a journalist who wrote bad stuff about the King. And he also was like the Lord Mayor of London and like was in the government but was definitely like anti royalist and like kind of a. Just like a. I don't know, like a journalist who was like doing stuff.
>> Farz: You know, they sound like a stirring family. Like he's got beef with the King, then he has beef with Lincoln. Well, not the same guy, but so.
>> Taylor: Well that's fair. And so obviously John Wilkes Booth is named after John Wilkes this relative of his grandmother. but also I thought was interesting is John Wilkes was notoriously ugly and he was called the ugliest man in England. Which is funny that his namesake is the handsomest man in America.
>> Farz: Weird.
>> Taylor: You know, so if you think of what an actor looks like and the good thing about this family is that we have pictures of them. it was like, I'm very grateful that they did this during the time of photographs, because it was helpful to see what they look like. But Junius Booth looks like an actor. You gotta go actor. He has this face that you can imagine has, like, a ton of expression. And all the pictures of him, he's wearing, like, a toga or, like, a beautiful costume, and he's like. Oh, he's, like, very. He's like a passionate actor. When he dies later, a journalist will say of his death, there are no more actors. Like, Junius was, like, the peak of actors in the. In history. Are you looking at him?
>> Farz: I am m. So he. He does give me, like, Sean Penn probably takes himself a little too seriously for being, like, a play.
>> Taylor: Like, I imagine every single thing that you say to him, he responds to you with a quote from Shakespeare.
>> Farz: Yeah, I know. He sounds like the kind of guy at a dinner party you'd want to, like, get away from.
>> Taylor: I feel like it'd be fun for, like, an hour.
>> Farz: He'd be fun for an hour.
>> Taylor: I have to go. So imagine he's your dad. You know, it's, Like, he's a lot. So he. He would do things like. So when he was acting, like, he never was, like, rich, like you were saying, like, how many people know him? Because the way it would work is he would play Richard III the most often. That was his, like, biggest role that he would play the most often. So there would be towns. So, like, my town of Joshua Tree would put on Richard iii, and he would come and be Richard iii, but everyone here, like, we'd build the sets. We'd be all the other actors. He'd come in and do Richard III for, like, three days. Then he'd go to San Diego and do their Richard iii with a whole different cast, a whole different set of people, but he would be, like, a traveling character. So he would, like, come home from these trips dressed like Richard iii. You know, he owned his own costumes. Like, him. His wife would make his costumes. Like, it was like, the house was full of swords and capes and, like, very dramatic stuff, if that makes sense.
>> Farz: Be kind of fun.
>> Taylor: Yeah. I mean, well, it's not the best for his family, but, like, it's, like, a fun job, sounds like.
>> Farz: Sure.
>> Taylor: he was also an alcoholic. He was drinking a ton. There is one time where he, a theater manager, locked him in a dressing room before a performance. So he would stop drinking because he would often get on stage Drunk. And the audience would know, obviously. It was like. There was, like a. It was like a peak where it was, like, just enough drunk to be really great at Richard III and then, like, really bad at Richard iii if it. Like, if you went over that hump. And, while he was locked in his. In his dressing room, he bribed a stagehand to buy whiskey, and he put a straw out the keyhole and drank the whiskey that way, which is funny.
>> Farz: Lover.
>> Taylor: so most. A little bit of it happened in England and then happened in America. So in 1830. Well, in 1821, he moved with his wife, Marianne Holmes, who was a flower girl at the theater. So someone who sold flowers at the theater. They met there, and they fell in love, and they moved to the United States. Moved to Maryland. incidentally, a lot of famous people are in this story. Like, he knew a lot of famous people. Like, he knew Lord Byron. He knew Andrew Jackson. Like, he connects the dots of a lot of folks that, like, we know as well. He wrote a letter to Andrew Jackson at one point, and threatened to kill him. And then later he said it was just a joke, but, like, so it sounds like he's, like, drunk test drunk. Texting people via mail.
>> Farz: I did. I did read that part and was like, I think there's just something genetically wrong with this family.
>> Taylor: Yeah, I mean, I think he just. I think he's just like.
John Wilkes left his wife on a farm because his job was hard
He's. It's a lot. So Marianne, the wife the mom of. Of John Wilkes, is brought to the United States with this man, and she's like, he's an actor. He's famous. I'm gonna have this lavish life. And essentially, he left her on a farm because his job was hard and he had to, like, travel around. And once she started having kids, he. She couldn't go with him, you know, so he kind of left her there. His dad came, too, so she was on the farm. And it was a lot of work to like, maintain the farm. And they would, like, you know, bring their vegetables to, like, different towns to sell it and things like that. And they were like, you know, they had crops. they also had a fair amount of enslaved people on their farm. So they were, like, poor, but, like, not poor enough to not have enslaved people. You know, that was, like, part of their growing up.
>> Farz: Right.
>> Taylor: So Marianne has 10 children, and some of them are actors, some of them aren't. The first one is Junius Jr. He was sometimes an actor and a theater manager. He moved to San Francisco, which was, like, really hard to get To. So at one point, like, Junius and another son, they go visit him, and they have to go down before the Panama Canal is made. You have to walk across Panama and, like, go on rivers and stuff and then go up. So it's like a terrible, terrible journey. But he moved to San Francisco, was doing stuff there. Junius, they called him Jun. He was sometimes an actor. He wasn't as good as his brothers, but he gets married, and later his son is an actor in the movies. Like, the very beginning of the movies in, like, the 20s and 30s, which is fun.
>> Farz: Sweet.
>> Taylor: There's Rosalie. Rosalie's called the forgotten child. We don't know much about her. she was kind of like a spinster. She lived, you know, with her mom until her death. She never got married or did anything. part of the reason that she stayed with her mom so much is after Rosalie was born, three other children were born. Mary Ann, Frederick and Friedrich and Elizabeth. All three of them died of cholera when Rosalie was nine. So her mom's grief just, like, kept Rosalie really close to her. And then she just, like, stayed with her mom for the rest of her life. So we don't know a ton about her, but that. But that was it. There was another child named Henry Byron, because they knew Lord Byron. He died when he was 11, when the family went back to England just to, like, visit. So four of the kids died pretty young. the next son is Edwin Thomas Booth. And he is our Elle Fanning in our metaphor. He's a great actor. Yeah. So he's a fantastic actor. He is America's Hamlet. And probably the best Hamlet of all. All time. I don't know what that means exactly.
>> Farz: Yeah.
>> Taylor: But big praise, you know, the best at it. he also had his dad's nose and looked like an actor. You know, he also has this. He looks just like his dad, has that same look. and in the nicest way possible. Edwin and Julius, in particular look like they can be on a Roman stage. You know, like, they look like they could be in, like, the. I don't know, whatever. Like one of those big theaters in ancient Rome. That's what they have that look to me.
>> Farz: You can see it.
>> Taylor: You know what I mean?
>> Farz: I also think it's because every picture you look at them, they. It could also be dressed like a statue.
>> Taylor: Yeah, no, totally. That's fair. That's fair. There's a. There's a painting of Edwin when he's a little bit older, by a famous painter. That is nice. He looks like his dad, he's like standing up in a suit. So Edwin is going to be the one who spends time going with his dad when his dad gets too drunk to go around and do things. So he has to like, go. Go different stage with him and chase him around and get him to perform on stage. You know, like, things like that. Like, his dad would like hide in a bar drunk and he has to go find him and bring him to the stage and make him do these things. he. Edwin, also has drinking problems. He eventually stops drinking. but he does get. And he gets married twice. The second time he marries a young actress and she dies shortly after childbirth. in the goat. I think we talked about this before where. I'm pretty sure she died just because the doctor, like, put his dirty hands on her when, when she was like, having a baby. and so, but that's. But Edwin is like. Edwin's the famous one. the next daughter is a girl named Asia.
Asia wrote a book about John Wilkes Booth and being his sister
So she's going to marry Edwin's friend, John Sleeper Clark, and eventually they'll move to England because John Sleeper, Colin Sleeper is going to be arrested for. Because he knows the family after Lincoln's assassinated. And then they move to England after that. He wasn't a part of it, but they like arrested him under suspicion just because he was ir. Asia did write a lot of writing, so she wrote a book about John Wilkes Booth and being his sister. So I didn't read it, but, like, that exists. So she wrote about it like firsthand. And, she was very, very close to John. To John Wilkes. In the book that I read, the historical fiction book, they're like, she's also kind of a bitch. I don't know. I don't know if that's true or not. But like, strong willed and obviously, like, the girls are not actors because a woman being an actor is like shameful, you know?
>> Farz: Wait, so were men. Did men portray women?
>> Taylor: I don't think so at this time. That's a good question. But I think the women who were in the theater were considered, like, not that reputable, but the men were fine. I don't make the rules.
>> Farz: I think you bite.
>> Taylor: Yeah.
>> Farz: And now look at us. And now look at the world we live in.
>> Taylor: No, just look at it.
>> Farz: Just look at it. And revel in Blake Lively's lawsuit.
>> Taylor: Oh, God.
John Wilkes Booth was born on May 10, 1838 in Maryland
so then John Wilkes Booth. So he's the ninth of the 10, 10 children. He was born on May 10, 1838 in Bel Air, Maryland. Let's get back to him in a second. And the youngest son is named Joe. I don't know much about him, but when I googled him, there was a talk that you could attend that was in 2008 in Bel Air, Maryland, about him. But alas, it's too late for me to go to that. Right, but that's it. So they live in Maryland, which. Close to Virginia. They live on their farm. There is a house there called Tudor hall that the dad built when he did make a little bit of money. It was also one of the things where, like, you kind of had to cross your fingers if dad brought the money home, you know, drinking it. Yeah, exactly. Like, he may go up to New York to do Richard III for a weekend and come back with nothing, you know, or whatever. So it was definitely, like, up to him. But eventually he built a house called Tudor Hall. It's still there. You can visit it on selected Sundays. It's a national historic place kept by the Junius B. Booth Society. So you can still visit the house that they lived in in Maryland.
Junius was married before he met Marianne to a woman named Marie
So we're in Maryland. The kids are living their life. Some of the older sons are out living their lives. June is already gone. Edwin's following dad around the country, getting him to get on stage, not totally drunk. And there's a secret.
>> Farz: family. Totally different family.
>> Taylor: Totally different family.
>> Farz: Yep.
>> Taylor: From before. So Junius was married before he met Marianne to a woman named Marie. Christine Adelaide Deloney. He married her in 1814 when he was 19 years old in England. He met her in Belgium and they moved to England. He had also fathered a child in 1811 with someone named Sarah Blackbeard, which is cool. And there's nothing about that child. No one knows what happened when he. When, when. When Junius left England to the United States with Marianne, he told Marie that he'd be right back and he's gonna send her money. And he did send her money. Like, he did, like, keep that. Keep this up. And not forever, but for a while. He did send her money and be like, I'm gonna be right back. Meanwhile, he's building this life with Marianne in Maryland. So they had two children, before he left. The daughter died when she was young, but the boy lives and he, you know, grows into a man. And he's 25 years old, and he comes to Maryland and he's like, oh, hello, Is there a secret family here? You know, and they started making, He's like, oh, I haven't seen you in 25 years, dad, do you perhaps have 10 children. And they started making a scene starting in 1846, like, following around the family, being like, you know, this is. This isn't a real family. Blah, blah, blah. Like, yelling, like, embarrassing the family eventually. And June. And Junius isn't there during this. So, like, he's always on tour while his family's being followed around Baltimore by this woman who's, like, pissed, obviously, and. But really, she should have, like, known 25 years ago that he wasn't coming home.
>> Farz: Right.
>> Taylor: Or whatever. So she has to live in Maryland for three years before she can get a divorce, which, again, is ridiculous. Like, you can't just get a divorce from this man who's been with another family for 25 years. No.
>> Farz: Yeah.
>> Taylor: Well, you know, but she got it. She ended up getting her divorce. And in 1851, on John Wilkes's 13th birthday, his parents were finally married. so that was, like, obviously, like, you know, probably a weird and confusing time for the children for those seven years when that woman was, like, following them around. so that's family, I think it's chaotic and, like, the way it's chaotic to live with a bunch of artists. and then, like, family secrets and lots of drinking. And the dad was often, like, I don't know, criticized or described as, like, kind of living half in the world of Shakespeare, half out, you know, so just, like.
>> Farz: But that's what you want out of a guy who's, like, just a stage actor his entire life and kind of a drunk.
>> Taylor: Exactly.
Patrick Wilson: When John was born, his mom had a vision
So let's talk about John. Two weird things. When he was born, his mom had a vision. So she had a vision when Edwin was born. Like a shooting star. Like, he's going to be a star. And, like, I don't know if that's true or not, but he was so great. And then when John was born, she was up late with him, and she saw the fire in the living room, like, come out of this fireplace, and it spelled the word country and then went back in.
>> Farz: Okay.
>> Taylor: Which, you know, is a bad omen considering the things that we know happened.
>> Farz: Yeah.
>> Taylor: But she was like, I don't know what that means.
>> Farz: I also think there's mold on the wall, and that's why she keeps seeing shooting stars in the wood. Country.
>> Taylor: I know. I mean, it's like two in the morning, you're holding your baby, and it's dark, and, like, you're exhausted. So there's that. But anyway. And then when he was in school, he went to, like, a military school, a fortune teller Read his palm and said he had a grim destiny, a short life, and he was doomed to die young, meeting a bad end.
>> Farz: So it's like, did I pay for this?
>> Taylor: That's not what you want to hear from your fortune teller for sure. but she was right. So he starts getting interested in acting and politics when he's 16. He becomes a delegate for the. A delegate for the Know Nothing party. So that was like one of the parties that was around at that time. So that's the one that he was like officially a part of. and at 17, he becomes an actor. Actor like his father. And they didn't necessarily want. Hm. Him to do it, but he was like. He had a different style than Edwin and. And the dad, they just like. He was also pretty good at it. Like not the best, but like good at it. so like his father was the actor. June was fine. He stopped being an actor. Edwin was exceptional and John was good. Make sense? Okay.
>> Taylor: So he starts doing small.
>> Farz: So he actually. He was the Steve Baldwin.
>> Taylor: Yes.
>> Farz: Edwin was the Alec.
>> Taylor: Yes.
>> Farz: Okay, got it. Not in the. Who they shot. None who shot someone, but just in their acting abilities.
>> Taylor: Yes.
>> Farz: Right.
>> Taylor: Yeah. That's why I was like Ellen Dakota, because I feel like that. Anyway, so he starts doing small roles. He does m. When Edwin does Hamlet in 1858, John is Horatio. His favorite role was Brutus in Julius Caesar, which we know Brutus ended up killing a tyrant is. Is his claim to fame. and then he was also handsome. So it's something you have to think about when you're looking at pictures of John Wilkes Booth. Like, tastes change. But like a Civil War reporter called him, quote, muscular. A muscular perfect man. Curling hair like a Corinthian capital. And like. Okay. And I think there's one picture of him and Edwin and their dad where they're doing a play together where he doesn't have a mustache. And there. I feel like I can see it a little more. You can't really see his face with that big mustache.
>> Farz: No, I think. I think he was probably. I mean, he's probably a good looking guy. Like, because I think at the time everybody had some deformity because life was so horrible back then that he just looked like he wasn't deformed. So he was handsome.
>> Taylor: That's fair. That's fair. And he was a good actor. So people were like, ooh, he definitely had a lot of like, girlfriends. Like maybe got some people pregnant. And definitely people like thought they were engaged to him when they were Definitely not.
>> Farz: You know what? But, like, I mean, think about it. Like, would we think, like, if. Who's an actor you think is really good looking?
>> Taylor: My first thought was, like, Leonardo DiCaprio. Oh, no, Patrick Wilson.
>> Farz: you know what? Patrick Wilson actually is pretty good looking. Leonardo DiCaprio. I think that if you were to see him today on the street and he was just, like, walking around in, like, New Balances and just, like, living his life like, you wouldn't.
>> Taylor: It's right.
Taylor: So fame makes you handsome in a lot of cases
I am, but I am thinking Romeo and Juliet, Leonardo DiCaprio. And then he stands out because he's doing Romeo.
>> Farz: That's true. That's true. You know, m. I'm going off with some of my cousins. Said when I was a kid, I had a huge crush on Britney Spears. And she was like, she's not like, you think she's good looking because she's famous? Like, she's actually not, like, exceptionally good.
>> Taylor: Looking as it is. Yeah, I think you're right.
>> Farz: But then I think that's probably.
>> Taylor: I mean, yeah, it's a case in a lot of. In a lot of cases. So, like, yes, if he was like, he worked at your. He was a butcher. He wouldn't be the handsomest butcher in America.
>> Farz: But like, Taylor, do you realize that when this podcast is famous, we're going to be so hot?
>> Taylor: Yes, that is such a good point. I'm so happy for us. Great. so fame makes you handsome. Good call. So he's traveling and acting, and people love it. At 1861, when the Civil War begins, he is in Albany, New York, performing, and he says kind of out loud that the south was heroic for what they did. he thought that the abolitionists were the problem because they were righteous and intolerant to the South. his personal views were that people of different races are inherently different and that slavery was good for them because they were lucky to be taken care of, essentially. In. Most of his work is in the north. So even during the Civil War, though, he's going to be going up and down the country, to perform, his. In 1864, the three booths do Julius Caesar together. That's the one picture. We have him without a mustache. and they raise enough money. Edwin, in particular, he did 100 Knights of Hamlet in New York, which was a record until John Barrymore broke the record in 1922, doing 101 in a row. but they. The money m. That they raised, was for a statue of Shakespeare that is still in Central park today.
>> Farz: Oh, cool.
>> Taylor: So they raise the money. So here's another fun, weird thing that I don't know if you knew. So in 1864, Edwin is in New York. He's actually in Jersey City. So he's like close to New York in Jersey City, and he's getting on a train. And a young man was on the platform of the train station and he said, quote, this young man said there was some crowding and I happened to be pressed by it against the car body while waiting my turn in this situation. The train began to move and by the motion I was twisted off my feet and had dropped somewhat with feet downwards into the open space and was personally helpless when my coat collar was vigorously seized and I was quickly pulled up and out to secure footing on the platform. So it was Edwin who saved this young man from falling through the platform of the train. And he saw him and looked at him and said, Edwin Booth, I know who you are. Thank you so much. And Edwin said, you're welcome. he didn't recognize the boy and he left. Guess who the boy was?
>> Farz: Thomas Edison.
>> Taylor: Robert Todd Lincoln. Lincoln's son.
>> Farz: That is crazy. That's, that's my point. There was only like 50 people in the whole country back then.
>> Taylor: Maybe, but I think that's wild. I don't, didn't know who it was, but like he knew that Edwin Edmund Booth had saved his life, which is, you know, and you know, the Lincolns had a lot of bad luck. They lost a couple sons like later. So it could have been another son dead, but that one saved him. So another friend they have is a man named John T. Ford who owns some theaters. There's one in Baltimore and eventually one in D.C. the Ford Theater is a 1500 seat, theater that was open on November 9th of 1960. Something I can't, not sure where. Anyway, John was one of the first people to perform in Ford's theater. He was in a play called the Marble Heart. And he was a Greek sculptor in a costume making marble statues come to life. At some point during that play, there's like a point where like he says something that is like, I don't know if it's harsh or like whatever the character says, and while he's saying it, he shakes his finger in the direction of the of the balconies because Lincoln is there. Lincoln sees John Wilkes Booth in this play and while he is delivering this line, he kind of shakes his finger in Lincoln's direction. And Lincoln's sister in law was there and she looked at Him. And she said, Mr. Lincoln, he looks as if he meant that for you. And Lincoln said, he does look pretty sharp at me, doesn't he? So, like, in public, he was like, I hate that guy. You know, And Lincoln was there.
>> Farz: So if Facebook existed back then, he'd have a lot of, like, strongly worded memes and posts.
>> Taylor: Exactly. Oh, my God. He's totally, like, all memes on his thing. Some of them are. Some of them are grayed out because they're proved to be not true. You know, like, that's the kind of guy he is. Lincoln actually saw Edwin perform more. He's. But he saw him perform about six times. He really. Lincoln, as we know, loved the theater and saw both, Both, Both Booth brothers perform. John does a little bit of an investment in oil in out west, which could have been good, but he left because he was impatient. And he ended up losing a lot of money. He lost about a million dollars in today's money. So John's successful at this point. Like, he has enough money to invest a million dollars in something and lose it as well. he starts to be more sympathetic to the South. He loves Virginia. When he's there, he's like, this is my home. It's very close to Maryland. But he's like, I feel much better here because obviously Maryland was in the Union and Virginia was in the South.
John Wilkes was arrested in 1863 for smuggling medicine to the South
his family was divided. Edwin voted for Lincoln. It was the first time he ever voted. And John was pissed at him. He was really mad. he told Asia, his sister, that he was smuggling medicine to the South. So he was part of a spy network that was bringing stuff to the south from the north because he could easily go through both of them because he was still performing during this time. Like, it's different, but he's still performing. In 1863, John Wilkes was arrested in St. Louis because he was heard saying that he, quote, wished the President and the whole damned government would go to hell. but he was arrested for a little bit and then let go. he was also probably part of a group called the. The Knights of the Golden Circle, which were people who wanted to have a country that was centered in Havana and did, like, a circle around the southern United States, Mexico, and like, the northern South America. And so Havana would be in the center, and that golden circle would all be slave owning territories. So he's probably a part of that group as well.
>> Farz: So the country is the ship they float on?
>> Taylor: No, no. The country's capital is in Havana, Cuba. So think of, like, take A protractor. Stick it on Havana and then, like, go out to, like, Georgia and then make a circle.
>> Farz: This is incredibly stupid.
>> Taylor: Yeah, it's mostly water.
>> Farz: And then, like, if it's not continuous, how do you. The whole point. You do this because it's continuous, so you can defend it anyways.
>> Taylor: I know.
>> Farz: Bad idea.
>> Taylor: So, John will get engaged to a woman named Lucy Hale, who's a Union senator's daughter, but he doesn't tell her that he's a part of all of these things, obviously. you'll also notice that he's not in the war because he's in his early 20s. You would imagine that he would be. He promised his mom he wouldn't be. But we can also assume that he paid to not be in the war, like, most.
>> Farz: Yeah, he had bone spurs.
>> Taylor: Yeah, exactly. So a ton of people dislike Lincoln. Of course, during this time, a lot of people want to kidnap him and do things. There's us. when I was reading something else about Lincoln, like, when he gets to D.C. for his inauguration, he sneaks in at night on a train, and he, like, pretends to be someone else and, like, sinks in. And afterwards, he regrets doing that because he was like, I kind of showed that I was afraid when, like, I should have just, like, done it. But, like, people were obviously, rightly, very worried about his safety also.
>> Farz: It's like, sir, you're the only 7 foot 4 man with acromegaly in the world.
>> Taylor: I don't want to be an asshole, but the handsomest man America is 5 8. So.
>> Farz: Yeah, exactly.
>> Taylor: Lincoln is going to stand up. So, John Wilk said that Lincoln was making himself a king. And he said, quote, he said this to Asia, to his sister. He said, that man's appearance, his pedigree, his coarse, low jokes and antidotes, his vulgar similes and his policy are disgraced to the sea. He holds. He has made the tool of the north to crush out slavery. And then I wrote, say that to my face. John Wilkes. so that's the mood. He's mad. he has a group of friends, and they're kind of, like, planning something, and they're, like, you know, riling each other up. there's a man named David Herold, George Atzero, Lewis Powell, and John Surratt. So they start meeting in, John. John's mom's house to, kind of talk about what they can do to, like, stop Lincoln. So the Civil war ends in 1865, in April. In that, right. Around that time, John Wilkes is out somewhere and Lincoln is in town, wherever they are. And Lincoln does a speech about how he wants to, now that the war is over, give the freed, enslaved people the right to vote. and that makes John even more mad, obviously. And obviously, when he said that he meant men, he didn't mean women, he meant the men. And so in 1870, actually, men of any race could technically vote, but it's obviously complicated because of, like, poll taxes. And that wasn't fixed until the 1970s. So whatever.
>> Farz: Sorry, you said 1870.
>> Taylor: That was in 1870, when men of any race could vote.
>> Farz: Oh, cool. Okay.
>> Taylor: Women, voted in, like 1917. But whatever. but that made him even more mad. he hears that the war is over and he's pissed. and on April 14, 1865, so just a few days after the war has ended, he goes to the ford Theater in D.C. to get his mail, because that's where he gets his mail. Like, he's moving around a bunch. He knows John Ford. He's always there. Like, he's so familiar with that theater. He gets his mail there. He, Ford's brother, when he's there getting his mail, says, hey, are you coming to the theater tonight? Because Mary Todd Lincoln and Lincoln will be here to see the play Our American Cousin. Are you gonna come? And he was like, oh, I don't know. I didn't know they were gonna be there. And Our American Cousin is a comedy play about a person named Asa Trenchgard who is a American who travels to England to claim his inheritance. And it's like, funny because he's American. He's like, rough. And the British are pretentious. People like it. It's funny.
>> Farz: Humor must have been a lot different back then.
>> Taylor: So it says it leads to humorous misunderstandings and cultural clashes. I bet it's funny.
John Wilkes Booth planned three assassinations on April 14th
so it's April 14th. It's the day. So John starts making some plans with his kidnapping co conspirators. And they're going to do three assassinations in one day. John's going to kill Lincoln, Powell is going to assassinate the Secretary of State, William Seward, and Asteroid is going to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson. The idea is to like as many people who are in line to be the president as possible. Grant was supposed to be a part of the plot because he was also supposed to go to the theater, but he decided not to go. probably because he was like, not a theater guy. He's just like, absolutely not.
>> Farz: Maybe he just didn't get the humor of that. Yeah.
>> Taylor: That's not. Yeah, he's not. He's not a comedy guy. So Grant doesn't go. He's already gone by the time the play is on. He leaves town to do something else. so John Wilkes talks to some friends. He has a getaway plan. Like, someone's bringing a horse around, and he could walk into the theater whenever he wants. He's a Baldwin. He's Dakota Fanning. Everybody knows who he is. Like, he doesn't have to get past security. He doesn't have to, like, find out where the back rooms are on the back staircases. He knows it. Like, it's house, his house, and everybody. It's not weird that he's there. He's supposed to be there, you know, so it's, During intermission of the play, he goes to a bar, and then he comes back to the theater around 10:10pm and he shoots Lincoln at 10:14. The people that are in the box with him are Mary Todd Lincoln and then Mayor Rathbone, the mayor of D.C. and his wife. the mayor tried to stop him and was stabbed. and then he jumps from the balcony to the stage, and he's holding his, like, gun and his knife. Maybe he dropped the gun, but he's holding his knife. And he yells, sic semper tyrannis. Which is Latin for thus always to tyrants.
>> Farz: And, meanwhile, he's the most famous guy there. And we're just like, is that John Wilkes Booth?
>> Taylor: You're like, is this part of the play? What is happening?
>> Farz: Like, that's gotta be so confusing.
>> Taylor: Seriously, what is happening? I just heard a gunshot. People are screaming. All of a sudden, this famous person who's not a part of this production is on the stage yelling.
>> Farz: It's like, Lin Manuel Miranda. But it. Like, not in Hamilton, but jumping on the stage during Hamilton, it's like, right?
>> Taylor: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like jumping on the stage during the Lion King and being like. You're like, what? Like, so it must have been just absolute chaos and horrible. We know Lincoln died, you know, a couple hours later. I think he died in the morning, but he never, like, regained consciousness after that. Powell was. Was able to stab Seward, but he was bedridden and he was seriously wounded, but survived. And then Azerdot, who was supposed to, kill the vice president, spent the evening drinking and never even tried. So.
>> Farz: Which is what everybody should have done.
>> Taylor: M. That is the best. The best of the three.
There's a show called Manhunt on Apple plus about the hunt to find Booth
so now John Wilkes runs and he. And sometime in this, he breaks his ankle either jumping from the balcony to the stage or later on his horse. So at some point, his ankle's injured and he's, like, injured, and it's harder for him to leave, but he has a horse getaway. However, he gets on it and is, like, out of town. There's a show that I didn't even know was a show called Manhunt on Apple plus about the hunt to find him. which I feel like I want to watch now that we all had to restart Apple plus subscriptions to watch Severance. Maybe watch that.
>> Farz: I, never got an Apple subscription.
>> Taylor: You, have to watch Severance.
>> Farz: I never watched Severance.
>> Taylor: You have to watch Severance.
>> Farz: I guess I'm watching Severance.
>> Taylor: Okay, so I'm gonna watch that. That sounds fun. but Edwin Stanton is a secretary of war. He's one of Lincoln's, like, team of rivals who was Seward. You'll. You can learn about them if you read that. That Doris Kearns Good Goodwin book. But, Edwin Stanton is a person who's in charge of the manhunt to find him. and by 4:00am the next day, he's 25 miles away at his friend's house. there is a. In Today's money, a $2 million reward for him. But they want him alive, you know, just like Oswald. Like, they want to talk to him. Historian Dorothy Kunhart said, quote, almost every family who kept a photograph album on the parlor table owned a likeness of John Wilkes Booth and the famous Booth family of actors. After the assassination, northerners slid the Booth card out of their albums. Some threw it away, some burned it, some crumpled it angrily. So, like, in this time, like, you have a family album and you have, like, your playbills in it, you know, so, like, you. He's famous. It's like my binder with a picture Leonardo DiCaprio on the front of it from 1996.
>> Farz: I probably still have my Weezer ticket from when I was 16.
>> Taylor: Yeah. So, like, people still have the stuff. And then they were obviously like, oh, my God, like, we cannot believe this happened. How all that. Less people were excited than he thought. Like, he also thought, like, I guess it kind of runs a Jack Ruby where he thought he'd be a hero. And people were like. A lot of people were like, no. Like, that's not. Not good. So he had, like, less support than he thought he was going to. But he was headed south. Lincoln's body, incidentally, does a tour of a bunch of different cities. It goes up the East Coast when Lincoln's body is in, New York, there is a photo of a very young Teddy Roosevelt leaning out a window, watching it, watching the coffin go by, which is fun. and then also, incidentally, my grandfather marched in the parade with FDR's body when FDR passed away during the season, World War II, which I think is fun. So John Wilkes Booth is near Bowling Green, Virginia, with his friends. Their name is the Garretts. They're saying. Well, they're like, friends of friends. And they're like, we don't know who. We didn't know who it was. But, like, I don't believe you, that you didn't know who it was. You know, like, they're just, like, harboring this person. They're in the South. They probably, you know, we're.
>> Farz: Well, Taylor, like, how would news travel? Like.
>> Taylor: Well, not that he did that, but, like, they said they didn't know who he was at all. I mean, I haven't seen the barn, you know, and you're like. Well, you would have. You wouldn't have Baldwin, stay in your barn. You'd invite him in.
>> Farz: Yeah, maybe. I mean. Yeah.
>> Taylor: Well, I think you would, because you would. I mean, minus the shooting someone.
>> Farz: Yeah. Keep guns away from him, but he can come inside.
>> Taylor: I'd let Dakota Fanning inside.
>> Farz: She's. She's harmless by comparison.
>> Taylor: I know. I'm saying if she was, like, the person who did that, you just wouldn't know. You wouldn't. You wouldn't know, but you'd know this person, but you wouldn't know what they've done, to your point. Playma sense. So they. He's in the bar. He's in a barn, and they track him down. I'm gonna watch Manhattan. I can tell you how they did it later, but track him down. The barn's on fire. And so they're trying to. He's, like, kind of, like, walking back and forth and yelling. Like, he knows he's trapped. He's in the barn. He is yelling. And, a police officer named Boston Corbett shoots him in the neck. And he said that he shot him because he thought that he was going to shoot back at him. Like, he was defending himself, but people were mad at him for killing him. But, like, he was like, you know, I feel like I had to defend myself. He shot him in the neck, and he was paralyzed.
John Wilkes wonders why Booth believed he had to kill Lincoln
They pulled him out of the burning barn. He died three hours later. His last words were useless, useless. And he was 26, we think he.
>> Farz: Meant by useless, I feel like, he.
>> Taylor: Meant because, like, people didn't appreciate him. Yeah, but it was only like, it wasn't like, how do you.
>> Farz: He wouldn't know. He wasn't in the south yet.
>> Taylor: I don't know.
>> Farz: Maybe they love them. Maybe there was. They were going to give a parade for him.
>> Taylor: Yeah, he said, tell my mom I did it for my country. Useless. Useless.
>> Farz: Also, like, I don't actually get the point of killing Lincoln in that situation. Don't you want to kill the generals who are just destroying. Well, actually, you know what? The generals weren't destroying the South. I think the south is doing pretty good. There was like, a few moments when.
>> Taylor: Like, no, the south was doing horrible. He was smuggling medicine down there because people were dying of, like, malaria.
>> Farz: No, I know they're doing horrible economically. They had to print their own bullshit money. But I think that in terms of, like, their ability to like. Because wasn't Stonewall Jackson. Yeah, Stonewall is the south, right?
>> Farz: Anyways, I would assume you'd want. If you're trying to win the war, you probably want to kill the generals then.
>> Taylor: No, I think you want to cut the head off the snake.
>> Farz: But was Lincoln deciding where to put troops like the presidents don't?
>> Taylor: I mean, the war's over. The war's over anyway.
>> Farz: Over. Oh, you know what? I should have asked that first.
>> Taylor: The war just ended like a week or two before.
>> Farz: Got really wrapped around the axle there.
>> Taylor: Yeah, it just ended. there's this weird spot in Charlotte because my in laws live in Charlotte, in downtown Charlotte, which is super fun. But there's like, in front of this, like, steak restaurant, there's a plaque on the ground that says, this is where Jefferson Davis was standing when he heard that Lincoln was killed. I'm like, it's weird.
>> Farz: Yeah, weird.
>> Taylor: Why do you know that? But whatever. his fiance, had gotten his diaries and we see what he wrote in his journals. And during that time, he had written, our country owed all of her troubles to him, and God simply may be the instrument of his punishment. So he, like, believes that he had to kill Lincoln because Lincoln was the one who had done all this stuff to America. his body was, taken to the Washington Navy Yard for identification and autopsy. For some reason, some of his, like, vertebrae were removed and those ended up being in a museum, which I think is strange. his body was buried in penitentiary cemetery, and eventually his remains were given back to his family, where he's buried in. In the family. In the family plot that was in 1869. He also was identified because he had a tattoo on his hand with his initials on them. It was jwb.
>> Farz: Really?
>> Taylor: Yeah.
>> Farz: Maybe that's, They have to do that if you travel quite a bit, because then if you die on the road, I really. Dad died of just drinking water. That was like, oh, I forgot to.
>> Taylor: Tell you, his dad. His dad did die. His dad died in. On a boat going between San Francisco and back to the East Coast.
>> Farz: Drink water. Right.
>> Taylor: Potentially. Or he just was, like, super drunk and he kept trying to jump off the side.
>> Farz: But that's what I think that you're. The way of dying back then was. So it could just happen for any or no reason at all. And so you tattoo your initial so people know who you are. But again, this guy was famous, so.
>> Taylor: Maybe that was the most handsome man in America. I don't know. I don't know. so his family obviously is kind of going through it. So during the Booth book, I recall Booth, obviously, again, historical fiction, but essentially, like a lot of his family, like her, Lincoln was assassinated. And then they were like, oh, my God, that's terrible. And then they were like, john Wilkes Booth did it. And they were like, there's no way. You know, like, what do we do? You know? And then having to, like, barricade themselves. People were obviously upset with them, which totally makes sense. so Asia, his sister, had left him a letter that was secret, and she opened it after he died. And the letter said, I know how foolish I shall be deemed for undertaking such a step as this. Where on one side I have many friends and everything to make me happy. Happy to give up all seems insane, but God is my judge. I love justice more than I do a country that disowns it, more than fame or wealth.
Kevin Melond: Shakespeare's brother disowned him over social media
So he was just like, so this is just. This is what God wants me to do. Edwin, his brother said, fuck that guy. And he said, think of him no more, no more. As your brother, he is dead to us now, as he soon must be to all the world. But imagine the boy you loved to be in that better part of his spirit in another world. So he kind of was like, absolutely not and totally disowned him. his co conspirators, Lewis Powell, David Herold and George Atzerodt, were all hanged, at the old arsenal penitentiary on July 7, 1865. So a few months later, later, Edwin is going to go back to acting. he took a couple months off, but in 1866, in January, he goes back to Being Hamlet. And again, he's America's Hamlet. He's, like, gonna keep doing that forever. And he dies in 1891, so his brother just kind of went back to acting and was like, forget that guy.
>> Farz: He's the only Hamlet, Hamlet America's ever had. You. You really radicalized himself.
>> Taylor: It's like, right? He radicalized himself.
>> Farz: Like, reminds me now of, like, people just spend their entire lives on social media where it's like, I don't think it's possible to spend all day on social media and not become radicalized one way or the other.
>> Taylor: Absolutely.
>> Farz: But back then, he had no social media, so he was a real go getter. Like, he really went and found the content himself.
>> Taylor: He would have been deep into, like, a Internet rabbit hole in some trench.
>> Farz: One, one or the other. But that's. That's the beauty of, like, the modern era and about, like, social media is you can become radicalized in, like, so many different things now. It's, like, cool because you have variety.
>> Taylor: That is such a glass half, half full answer to the world right now.
>> Farz: Good for you.
>> Taylor: Yeah, you can really find anyone on the Internet these days.
>> Farz: You can really find. Whatever belief you have, you can find it on the Internet.
>> Taylor: Oh, gosh.
>> Farz: well, thank you for sharing.
>> Taylor: Yeah.
>> Farz: it was fun.
>> Taylor: It was interesting. I didn't know a lot about. About him.
>> Farz: I do want to do. I do want to do. I do. I want to do a podcast on, like. So have you ever seen the movie, there's something wrong with Kevin?
>> Taylor: Yes. I read the book, I think, also, but. Yes. That was so good.
>> Farz: Yeah.
>> Taylor: Awful.
>> Farz: Awful.
>> Taylor: But amazing. Yeah.
>> Farz: But it also just introduced this whole angle of like. Yeah, there's a life that nobody wants to know what it's like to have. They'll be really interesting to find out what that's like.
>> Taylor: Yeah.
>> Farz: Because if you did that, if your kid did that, you could end up with the guy. I covered having a tall hunt you down as Arnold Schwarzenegger.
>> Taylor: Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. I'm sure there are people who never saw an Edmund Booth play again. You know, plenty did, but I'm sure playing didn't.
>> Farz: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Their loss. He's America's Hamlet.
>> Taylor: I know. For real. You watch Hamlet? I'm gonna look. There's one from 2009.
>> Farz: I'm not. I, I. I disdain Shakespeare. All things Shakespeare makes no sense to me.
>> Taylor: It's very hard to wrap your head around.
>> Farz: And if I'm being totally real, I think people that love Shakespeare are lying. They're lying. They don't get it either. They're just trying to be smart.
>> Taylor: Potentially.
>> Farz: Okay, if you like Shakespeare, I don't.
>> Taylor: Disagree with you on that.
>> Farz: Here's. Here's what I'll say. I like Shakespeare as a concept because his stories are what, like, most folklore, like stories that we know now are, like, built off of like, oh.
>> Taylor: You know, we should watch the, the Mel Gibson one. Because remember in Clueless, when she's like, I remember Mel Gibson accurately.
>> Farz: Remember Mel Gibson. What did he do?
>> Taylor: He was Hamlet in 1990 version.
>> Farz: I'm still not gonna watch that. It was. Yeah, I'll let you watch. And you tell me, because I think we have the same feelings towards Shakespeare. But write to us@dunefallpond.com if you actually think Shakespeare is good.
If you sit down and read a book, a Shakespeare book, right
If you sit down and read a book, a Shakespeare book, right?
>> Taylor: If you tell me you've read all of them, I don't believe you. That you, like, understand that you've read.
>> Farz: Yeah. That'll be crazy. That'll be crazy.
>> Taylor: Prove us wrong. Tell us more.
>> Farz: sweet. Anything else, Taylor?
>> Taylor: That's it. Thank you. Thank you. Find us Doom to Phil Pod on social media. Email us Doom to philipod gmail if you have any ideas.
Hey, Miles. It's Miles signing. I'm going to stop recording, okay?
>> Farz: Hey, Miles.
>> Taylor: It's Miles. It's Miles. It's Miles signing. Signing us off.
>> Farz: It's Miles signing us off. I'm going to go ahead and stop recording, okay?