Exploring Gramercy Park and Union Square (History & Guide) by Pommer Alfred & Pommer Joyce

Author:Pommer, Alfred & Pommer, Joyce [Pommer, Alfred]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Published: 2015-10-26T04:00:00+00:00

No. 16 Gramercy Park South, the Players Club (formerly the Edwin Booth Mansion).

Theater historians consider Edwin Booth America’s greatest tragic stage actor. His father was Junius Brutus Booth, a touring Shakespearean star and an eccentric drunk known as the “mad tragedian.” Edwin’s youngest brother was John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated Abraham Lincoln. Edwin Booth was a staunch Unionist and voted for Lincoln; his brother John was a rabid secessionist. After the assassination, Edwin was distraught. He stopped his stage appearances and wrote a letter of public apology. After several months, he returned to the stage. Edwin had three brothers, a sister and a half brother in England, and their sympathies were divided between the North and the South. Three of the brothers—Edwin, Junius Brutus Jr. and John Wilkes—appeared on stage together only once during their long theatrical careers.

They appeared in Julius Caesar on November 25, 1864, at the Winter Garden Theater on Mercer Street (between Bleecker Street and West Third Street) in Manhattan. It was a one-time, sold-out performance, and the proceeds went to erect the statue of Shakespeare (1564–1616) by sculptor J.Q.A. Ward on Literary Walk in Central Park. The cornerstone for the statue was laid by Edwin Booth in 1864 to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birthday, but the dedication wasn’t until 1872.

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