John Wilkes Booth
From Fargo Filmmaking
John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838 – April 26, 1865) was an American actor infamous for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. He was a successful professional stage actor of his day, and a member of the Booth family of actors. He was also a Confederate sympathizer who was dissatisfied with the outcome of the American Civil War.
A fictionalized version of Booth was portrayed by Jake Hartje in the film Mercedes Ray. In the movie, Booth's famous assassination of Lincoln is foiled when he passes out at the sight of Mercede's inbound time machine.
[edit] About Booth
As a famous and popular actor of the time, Booth was a friend of the owner of Ford's Theater, John T. Ford, and had free access to all of it's parts. Upon hearing of Lincoln's sudden decision to attend the performance that night, Booth set a plan in motion that would forever be one of the most infamous assassinations in United States history. Boring a spyhole into the presidential box earlier that day, Booth could see if his intended victim had made it to the play. That evening, at around 10 p.m., as the play progressed, he slipped into Lincoln's box and shot him in the back of the head with a .44 caliber Deringer. Booth's escape was almost thwarted by Major Henry Rathbone, who was present in the Presidential box with Mary Todd Lincoln, and Rathbone's fiancée, Clara Harris. Rathbone momentarily grappled with Booth after the fatal shot was fired, but was stabbed and slashed by a dagger that Booth had carried with him in addition to his pistol.
[edit] Appearances
- Mercedes Ray (2007).... Jake Hartje
[edit] External Links
- John Wilkes Booth at Wikipedia
