"on Hamlet on the evening of June 1, stage star Edwin Booth was convinced by his brother John Wilkes Booth to allow the latter to play Hamlet in the play. At the end of Hamlet's soliloquy in the IV act, John Booth pulled out a concealed revolver, shouting ""Sic semper tyrannis!"" before shooting at the president. Only by the quick reflexes of Generals Grant and Sharpe was Lincoln's rocking chair thrown back and the bullet missed. A horrified Edwin wrestled his brother to the ground and the audience leaped onto the stage, nearly beating the would-be assassin to death. Through"
"on Friday night, as I have been in custody nearly ever since, I was one of the principal witnesses of that sad affair, being the only one on the stage at the time of the fatal shot. I was playing Asa Trenchard, in the ""American Cousin,"" The ""old lady"" of the theatre had just gone off the stage, and I was answering her exit speech when I heard the shot fired. I turned, looked up at the President's box, heard the man exclaim, ""Sic semper tyrannis,"" saw him jump from the box, seize the flag on the staff and drop"
"While it is traditionally held that Booth shouted the Virginia state motto, ""Sic semper tyrannis!"" (""Thus always to tyrants"") either from the box or from the stage, witness accounts conflict. Most recalled hearing ""Sic semper tyrannis!"" but othersincluding Booth himselfsaid he yelled only ""Sic semper!"" (Some did not recall Booth saying anything in Latin.) There is similar uncertainty about what Booth shouted, next, in English: either ""The South is avenged!"", ""Revenge for the South!"", or ""The South shall be free!"" (Two witnesses remembered Booth's words as: ""I have done it!"") Immediately after Booth landed on the stage, Major Joseph B."
"they have historically taken roles and done crowd scenes as needed. The actor William J. Ferguson (June 8, 1845 – May 3, 1930) was the call boy at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., when actor John Wilkes Booth killed President Lincoln and fled. Ferguson was described as the last surviving eye witness. He said he and actress Laura Keene were standing off stage at the first entrance, opposite the president's box, when it occurred. He heard the shot, looked up and saw Lincoln's head slump, then Booth jumped to the stage and rushed between him and Keene. The term pretty"
"cigarettes. Samuel J. Seymour Samuel James Seymour (March 28, 1860 – April 12, 1956) was the last surviving person who had been in Ford's Theatre the night of the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. He was from Maryland and lived in Arlington, Virginia. Seymour, a carpenter and contractor, lived most of his later life in Baltimore, Maryland. He died April 12, 1956, at the home of his daughter in Arlington, Virginia, survived by five children, 13 grandchildren and 35 great-grandchildren. He was buried at Baltimore's Loudon Park Cemetery. On April 14, 1865, when he was"
"years old, Seymour's godmother (the wife of his father's employer) took him to see ""Our American Cousin"" at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C., where they sat in the balcony across the theater from the presidential box. He saw Lincoln come into the box, waving and smiling. Later, ""All of a sudden a shot rang out... and someone in the President's box screamed. I saw Lincoln slumped forward in his seat."" Seymour watched John Wilkes Booth jump from the box to the stage. He remembers that, not understanding what had happened to Lincoln, he was very concerned for Booth, who broke"
"pneumonia, aged 93. Sylvia Lennick Sylvia Lennick (née Paige; November 14, 1915 – August 10, 2009) was a Canadian comedic actress. A supporting cast member of ""Wayne & Shuster""<nowiki>'</nowiki>s television comedy troupe, she was most famous for her role as Calpurnia, with the famous catch phrase ""I told him, Julie! Don't go!"", in the Julius Caesar sketch ""Rinse the Blood Off My Toga"". In addition to her work with Wayne and Shuster, Lennick was a semi-regular on many of the CBC's weekly television series in the 1950s, including ""Cannonball"" and ""Tugboat Annie"", as well as numerous comedy, drama and musical"
"Richard Jordan Robert Anson Jordan Jr. (July 19, 1937 – August 30, 1993) was an American stage, screen, and television actor. A long-time member of the New York Shakespeare Festival, he performed in many Off Broadway and Broadway plays. His films include ""Logan's Run"", ""Les Misérables"", ""Raise the Titanic"", ""The Friends of Eddie Coyle"", ""The Yakuza"", ""Interiors"", ""The Bunker"", ""Dune"", ""The Secret of My Success"", Timebomb, ""The Hunt for Red October"", ""Posse"" and ""Gettysburg"". Jordan was born in New York City, to Robert Anson Jordan, Sr., from Boston, Massachusetts, and Constance (née Hand), from New York. His maternal grandfather was"
"Sylvia Lennick Sylvia Lennick (née Paige; November 14, 1915 – August 10, 2009) was a Canadian comedic actress. A supporting cast member of ""Wayne & Shuster""<nowiki>'</nowiki>s television comedy troupe, she was most famous for her role as Calpurnia, with the famous catch phrase ""I told him, Julie! Don't go!"", in the Julius Caesar sketch ""Rinse the Blood Off My Toga"". In addition to her work with Wayne and Shuster, Lennick was a semi-regular on many of the CBC's weekly television series in the 1950s, including ""Cannonball"" and ""Tugboat Annie"", as well as numerous comedy, drama and musical specials throughout the"
"blocked artery. Andrew Dice Clay Andrew Dice Clay (born Andrew Clay Silverstein; September 29, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, musician, and producer. He rose to prominence in the late 1980s with a brash, macho, offensive persona known as ""The Diceman"". In 1990, he became the first stand-up comedian to sell out Madison Square Garden for two consecutive nights. That same year, he played the lead role in the comedy-mystery film ""The Adventures of Ford Fairlane"". Clay has appeared in several films and television shows and released a number of stand-up comedy albums. He continues to focus on acting"
"John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838 – April 26, 1865) was the American actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 1865. He was a member of the prominent 19th-century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and a well-known actor in his own right. He was also a Confederate sympathizer, vehement in his denunciation of Lincoln and strongly opposed to the abolition of slavery in the United States. Booth and a group of co-conspirators originally plotted to kidnap Lincoln but later planned to kill him, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary"
"in the Philadelphia suburb of Ardmore. He moved to the island of Jersey in 1911, and died there in 1916. He was buried at the La Croix old cemetery in Grouville. Harry Hawk Harry Hawk (April 28, 1837 – May 28, 1916) was an American actor and comedian, remembered as the only performer on stage at Ford's Theatre at the moment Abraham Lincoln was shot on April 14, 1865. William Henry Hawk was born in Philadelphia in 1837 to William J. Hawk and his wife, but the family moved to Chicago when he was young. He began theater work as"
"Edmund Spangler Edman ""Ned"" Spangler (August 10, 1825 – February 7, 1875) was an American carpenter and stagehand who was employed at Ford's Theatre at the time of President Abraham Lincoln's murder on April 14, 1865. He and seven others were charged in conspiring to assassinate Lincoln and three other high level government officials. Spangler was the only one found not guilty of the conspiracy charge. Even so he was found guilty of helping Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, escape and sentenced to six years of hard labor. Spangler was born in York, Pennsylvania, one of four sons of William"
"Marcia Cross. A memorial in Jordan's honor was held at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles on October 8, 1993, the day ""Gettysburg"" was released. Richard Jordan Robert Anson Jordan Jr. (July 19, 1937 – August 30, 1993) was an American stage, screen, and television actor. A long-time member of the New York Shakespeare Festival, he performed in many Off Broadway and Broadway plays. His films include ""Logan's Run"", ""Les Misérables"", ""Raise the Titanic"", ""The Friends of Eddie Coyle"", ""The Yakuza"", ""Interiors"", ""The Bunker"", ""Dune"", ""The Secret of My Success"", Timebomb, ""The Hunt for Red October"", ""Posse"" and ""Gettysburg""."
"John T. Ford John Thompson Ford (April 16, 1829 – March 14, 1894) was an American theater manager in the nineteenth century. He is most notable for operating Ford's Theatre at the time of the Abraham Lincoln assassination. Ford was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and was the son of Elias and Anna (""née"" Greanor) Ford. His ancestors were early Maryland settlers and some of them took part in the American Revolution. For a few years he attended public school in Baltimore and then became a clerk in his uncle’s tobacco factory in Richmond, Virginia. Not caring for this work, he"
"at Ford's Theatre. That night, his father was fatally shot by John Wilkes Booth. When news of the assassination spread to Grover's Theatre, the manager made an announcement to the entire audience. Tad began running and screaming, ""They killed Papa! They killed Papa!"" He was escorted back to the White House while his mother pleaded to have him brought to his father's deathbed at the Petersen House. ""Bring Tad—he will speak to Tad—he loves him so."" Late that night, an inconsolable Tad was put to bed by a White House doorman. President Lincoln died the next morning, on Saturday, April"
"Ford's Theatre Ford's Theatre is a theatre located in Washington, D.C., which opened in August 1863. It is famous for being the site of the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. After being shot, the fatally wounded 56-year old president was carried across the street to the Petersen House, where he died the next morning. The theater was later used as a warehouse and office building, and in 1893 part of it collapsed, causing 22 deaths. It was renovated and re-opened as a theater in 1968. During the 2000s, it was renovated again, opening on February"
"Bowery Theatre Company. He died in 1831. Ferdinand Durang Ferdinand Durang (c. 1785 – 1831) was an American actor, best known as the first person to sing publicly Francis Scott Key's ""The Star-Spangled Banner"". He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of John Durang of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, America's first native-born actor. He served in the Pennsylvania militia. It is disputed whether he actually matched Key's poem with the tune of ""To Anacreon in Heaven,"" a popular drinking song, but he is generally recognized as the first person to publicly sing it, at Captain McCauley's tavern in Baltimore in October"
"Andrew Dice Clay Andrew Dice Clay (born Andrew Clay Silverstein; September 29, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, musician, and producer. He rose to prominence in the late 1980s with a brash, macho, offensive persona known as ""The Diceman"". In 1990, he became the first stand-up comedian to sell out Madison Square Garden for two consecutive nights. That same year, he played the lead role in the comedy-mystery film ""The Adventures of Ford Fairlane"". Clay has appeared in several films and television shows and released a number of stand-up comedy albums. He continues to focus on acting while still"
"and to convince others to confess, but John angrily shouts ""Leave me my name!"" and tears up the confession, determined to keep his name pure for his sons. He is taken away to be hanged. John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey recite the Lord's Prayer. Before they finish, they are pushed off the platform edges to their instant death. In 1952, Miller's friend Elia Kazan appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC); fearful of being blacklisted from Hollywood, Kazan named eight members of the Group Theatre, including Clifford Odets, Paula Strasberg, Lillian Hellman, and John Garfield, who in"
"sneaks into the President's box and shoots Lincoln, mortally wounding him. Booth stabs diplomat and military officer Henry Rathbone who was a guest in Lincoln's box, and leaps onto the stage, shouting, ""Sic Semper Tyrannis! The South is avenged!"" before escaping. A crowd, including Aiken, Hamilton and Baker, watch in horror as the unconscious President is taken to a nearby boarding house where he dies early the next morning. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton orders all suspects, including Mary Surratt, arrested. Booth and David Herold manage to evade capture for some days, but Union soldiers find a barn where they"
"moved to a newly built structure, John T. Ford bought the former church and renovated it into a theater. He first called it Ford's Athenaeum. It was destroyed by fire in 1862, and was rebuilt. On April 14, 1865—just five days after General Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House—Lincoln and his wife attended a performance of ""Our American Cousin"" at Ford's Theatre. The famous actor John Wilkes Booth, desperate to aid the dying Confederacy, made his way into the presidential box and shot Lincoln. Booth then jumped down to the stage, and escaped through a rear door. Following the assassination,"
"Samuel J. Seymour Samuel James Seymour (March 28, 1860 – April 12, 1956) was the last surviving person who had been in Ford's Theatre the night of the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. He was from Maryland and lived in Arlington, Virginia. Seymour, a carpenter and contractor, lived most of his later life in Baltimore, Maryland. He died April 12, 1956, at the home of his daughter in Arlington, Virginia, survived by five children, 13 grandchildren and 35 great-grandchildren. He was buried at Baltimore's Loudon Park Cemetery. On April 14, 1865, when he was five"
"his death, a funeral was held at his house and officiated by two clergymen from the Central Presbyterian Church of Baltimore, and he was buried in Loudon Park Cemetery. John T. Ford John Thompson Ford (April 16, 1829 – March 14, 1894) was an American theater manager in the nineteenth century. He is most notable for operating Ford's Theatre at the time of the Abraham Lincoln assassination. Ford was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and was the son of Elias and Anna (""née"" Greanor) Ford. His ancestors were early Maryland settlers and some of them took part in the American Revolution."
"Harry Hawk Harry Hawk (April 28, 1837 – May 28, 1916) was an American actor and comedian, remembered as the only performer on stage at Ford's Theatre at the moment Abraham Lincoln was shot on April 14, 1865. William Henry Hawk was born in Philadelphia in 1837 to William J. Hawk and his wife, but the family moved to Chicago when he was young. He began theater work as a call boy, or stagehand, at McVicker's Theatre in Chicago. After two years, he left to work for John E. Owens at the Variety Theatre in New Orleans. His first stage"
"Ferdinand Durang Ferdinand Durang (c. 1785 – 1831) was an American actor, best known as the first person to sing publicly Francis Scott Key's ""The Star-Spangled Banner"". He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of John Durang of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, America's first native-born actor. He served in the Pennsylvania militia. It is disputed whether he actually matched Key's poem with the tune of ""To Anacreon in Heaven,"" a popular drinking song, but he is generally recognized as the first person to publicly sing it, at Captain McCauley's tavern in Baltimore in October 1814. He was a member of the"
"door being there, or of the lock being out of order. I did not notice any hole in the door. Gifford usually attended to the carpentering in the front part of the theater, while I did the work about the stage. Mr. Gifford was the boss carpenter, and I was under him. Edmund Spangler Edman ""Ned"" Spangler (August 10, 1825 – February 7, 1875) was an American carpenter and stagehand who was employed at Ford's Theatre at the time of President Abraham Lincoln's murder on April 14, 1865. He and seven others were charged in conspiring to assassinate Lincoln and"
"that Rathbone thought sounded like ""Freedom!"" Rathbone jumped from his seat and struggled with Booth, who dropped the pistol and drew a knife, then stabbed Rathbone in the left forearm. Rathbone again grabbed at Booth as Booth prepared to jump from the box to the stage, a twelve-foot drop; Booth's riding spur became entangled on the Treasury flag decorating the box, and he landed awkwardly on his left foot. As he began crossing the stage, many in the audience thought he was part of the play. Booth held his bloody knife over his head, and yelled something to the audience."
"Sic semper tyrannis Sic semper tyrannis is a Latin phrase meaning ""thus always to tyrants."" The phrase is sometimes said to have originated with Roman Marcus Junius Brutus during the assassination of Julius Caesar on 15 March 44 BC, but according to Plutarch, Brutus either did not have a chance to say anything, or if he did, no one heard what was said: Marcus Junius Brutus was the descendant of Lucius Junius Brutus who was the founder of the Roman Republic and traditionally one of the first consuls in 509 BC. This followed his successful overthrow of the Roman monarchy."
"Julia Heflin Julia Dorn Heflin (1911–2007) was a journalist, a theatre producer and a teacher. The Washington Post aptly called her ""a firebrand."" In the 1930s, with an English-speaking cast, she staged an incendiary production of the Clifford Odets play ""Waiting For Lefty"" on a truck-bed in a Moscow street—where perhaps the only words understood by the Russians who gathered to watch were ""Strike! Strike!"" which brought clamorous cheers from the comrades. She was still making sparks in 1977 when, at the formal ceremony marking her retirement from Mount Vernon College in Washington, DC, she chided the administration for insufficient"
"this, the Latin phrase that left no doubt that the entire production was dedicated to their father, the great tragedian Junius Brutus Booth: Filii Patri Digno Digniores. As their mother watched on from a box on the aisle, the three Booth brothers reenacted the tragedy of ""Julius Caesar"" before an audience in The Winter Garden Theatre that was ""packed to the rafters."" During the performance the clanging of fire bells could be heard from the streets of New York, as confederate sympathizers during the ongoing American Civil War tried to burn the city to the ground, which included fires set"
"fiancee Clara Harris accepted an invitation to see a play at Ford's Theatre from President Abraham Lincoln and his wife, First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln. The couple, who had been friends with the President and his wife for some time, were invited after Ulysses S. Grant and his wife Julia, Thomas Eckert, and several others had declined Mrs. Lincoln's invitation. During the play, noted stage actor John Wilkes Booth surreptitiously entered the Presidential box and fatally shot Lincoln in the head with a pistol. As Rathbone attempted to apprehend Booth, Booth slashed Rathbone's left arm with a dagger from the"
"the man as he crossed the stage as being Booth. I then heard some one say that the President was shot. Immediately all was confusion. I shoved the scenes back as quickly as possible in order to clear the stage, as many were rushing upon it. I was very much frightened, as I heard persons halloo, ""Burn the theater!"" I did not see Booth pass out; my situation was such that I could not see any person pass out of the back door. The back door has a spring attached to it, and would not shut of its own accord."