Agnes Booth

Agnes Booth
Agnes Booth
Born	Marion Agnes Land Rookes 1843
Died	1910 (aged 66–67)
Occupation	Actress

Agnes Booth (1843–1910), born Marion Agnes Land Rookes, was an American actress and in-law of Junius Brutus Booth, John Wilkes Booth, and Edwin Booth. She was born in Sydney, Australia, but migrated to California in 1858 at the age of 14.

She performed in California, attracting attention and gaining recognition, until 1865 when she moved to New York where she appeared at the Winter Garden (demolished in 1867). In 1866, she joined the Boston Theatre Company, of which she was a member for several years. In 1867, she was married to Junius Brutus Booth, Jr., its manager. Mr. Booth died in 1883, and in 1885 she remarried to John B. Schoeffel.

In 1878 she played Madeleine Renaud in the Union Square Theatre's production of "A Celebrated Case," the program noting that she had "kindly undertaken this part in order to strengthen the cast." From 1881 to 1891, she was with the Madison Square Company. After 1891, she went to Europe, then returned to the United States and resumed her work, appearing for a time from 1895 to 1897 in The Sporting Duchess and other pieces.

Reviews

From Belford's Magazine [2:8] (January 1889):

"Agnes Booth has scored a great triumpth as Mrs. Seabrook in "Captain Swift" at the Madison Square. For painstaking attention to detail, nicety of intonation, and powerful expression, Agnes Booth is in the front rank of leading ladies. We have seen her in many society dramas, and in each she has shown a charming appreciation of all the requirements. At the Madison Square, with its cosey (sic) stage, the visitor forgets that he is one of the audience, and feels almost like an intruder upon a scene in a private drawing-room. ... The mingled expression of shame, suffering and maternal love in Agnes Booth's face during [one] scene is one not soon to be forgotten. The audience remains spellbound a moment, then a burst of enthusiastic applause crowns her effort."

External links

• "AGNES BOOTH TO ACT ONCE MORE; The Popular Actress Will Create the Role of the Sporting Duchess at the Academy.". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9801E2D81339E033A25751C1A9649C94649ED7CF. Retrieved 2008-08-07. 

References

• Asia Booth Clarke (1882). The Elder and the Younger Booth, Boston: J.R. Osgood and Co.
• McKay and Wingate (1896). Famous American Actors of To-day, New York: T. Y. Crowell.
• Clapp and Edgett (1899). "Players of the Present", Dunlap Society Publication. New York.
• Montrose Jonas Moses (1906). Famous Actor-Families in America, New York: Greenwood Press.