Edwina Booth Grossman (December 9, 1861 – December 26, 1938) was an American writer and the daughter of

Shakespearean actor William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Edwin Booth Edwin Thomas Booth (November 13, 1833 – June 7, 1893) was an American stage actor and theatrical manager who toured throughout the United States and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869, he founded Booth's Th ...

. In 1894, she published the book ''Edwin Booth: Recollections by His Daughter, Edwina Booth Grossman, and Letters to Her and to His Friends'' in an effort to protect her father's legacy after the 1865

assassination of Abraham Lincoln On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was shot by John Wilkes Booth while attending the play '' Our American Cousin'' at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Shot in the head as he watched the play, L ...

by Grossman's uncle,

John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, assassinated United States president Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the p ...

Early life and education

Grossman was born Edwina Booth on December 9, 1861. Members of the prominent

Booth family The Booth family was an English American theatrical family of the 19th century. Its most known members were brothers Edwin Booth, one of the leading actors of his day, and John Wilkes Booth, also a fellow actor most remembered for assassinating ...

, Grossman's parents, Edwin Booth and

Mary Devlin Booth Mary Devlin Booth (1840–1863) was an American stage actress and the first wife of actor Edwin Booth. Private life Booth was born Mary Devlin in Troy, New York, on May 19, 1840. She married Edwin Booth on July 7, 1860, at which point she ret ...

, were well-known Shakespearian actors. Grossman's paternal grandfather was

Junius Brutus Booth Junius Brutus Booth (1 May 1796 – 30 November 1852) was an English-born American actor. He was the father of actor John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. His other children included Edwin Booth, one of the foremost t ...

and John Wilkes Booth was her paternal uncle. Mary Devlin Booth died in 1863, when Grossman was two years old. Edwin Booth married actress

Mary McVicker Mary Frances McVicker (born Mary Frances Runnion, also known as Mary McVicker Booth; September 17, 1848 – November 13, 1881) was an American stage actress and singer perhaps best known for her partnership with actor Edwin Booth, to whom she was ...

in 1869.

Career

In 1894, Grossman published a book about her father, Edwin Booth, reportedly concerned that his legacy as an actor would be marred by his brother's assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. The volume was titled ''Edwin Booth: Recollections by His Daughter, Edwina Booth Grossman, and Letters to Her and to His Friends''. As the title suggests, the book describes Grossman's memories of her father and contains edited transcripts of letters written by him.

Private life

On May 16, 1885, Edwina Booth married banker Ignatius R. Grossman (sometimes spelled "Crossman"). The couple had two children, Clarence Edwin Booth Grossman, who became an artist, and Mildred Booth Grossman. Grossman's granddaughter, Edwina Booth Waterbury, eventually married actor Richard H. Cutting. Grossman was reportedly at her father's side at the time of his death in June 1893. Edwina Booth Grossman died on December 26, 1938.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grossman, Edwina Booth 1861 births 1938 deaths 19th-century American women writers Booth family