Junius Brutus Booth

British-American actor who was one of the greatest Shakespearean actors of the first half of the 19th century — famous for his Iago, Richard III, and Shylock — and father of Edwin Booth (the most famous 19th century American Shakespearean) and John Wilkes Booth (Lincoln's assassin).

Represents the theatrical lineage that connects Shakespeare's plays to American culture — through his sons (Edwin the great actor, John Wilkes the assassin) the Booth family created the defining moment where theatrical performance and American political history converged.