Sarah Booth (1793 – 30 December 1867) was an English actress.

Personal life

Sarah Booth was born in Birmingham, England in 1793. She was related to

Barton Booth Barton Booth (168210 May 1733) was one of the most famous British dramatic actors of the first part of the 18th century. Early life Booth was the son of The Hon and Very Revd Dr Robert Booth, Dean of Bristol, by his first wife and distant co ...

. She was discovered in Manchester, England as a dancer, alongside her sister, around 1804. She died in 1867 after a long retirement from performing.

Work

She was managed by a promoter named Macready who worked for the Manchester Theatre. She performed as a prince in the play '' King John''. She moved to

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

, where she performed in the play ''Deserts of Siberia'' (also called ''The Exile'') as Alexina. She was heard of by the manager of the

Surrey Theatre The Surrey Theatre, London began life in 1782 as the Royal Circus and Equestrian Philharmonic Academy, one of the many circuses that provided entertainment of both horsemanship and drama ( hippodrama). It stood in Blackfriars Road, near the j ...

Robert William Elliston Robert William Elliston (7 April 1774 – 7 July 1831) was an English actor and theatre manager. Life He was born in London, the son of a watchmaker. He was educated at St Paul's School, but ran away from home and made his first appearance on ...

. She performed in London, England for the first time in 1810, in a

burletta In theater and music history, a burletta (Italian, meaning "little joke", sometimes burla or burlettina) is a brief comic opera. In eighteenth-century Italy, a burletta was the comic intermezzo between the acts of an ''opera seria''. The extended w ...

alongside Elliston. That same year, on 23 November, she debuted at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

, playing Amanthis in a play titled ''Child of Nature''. She performed at Covent Garden many times, performing in ''Miller and his Men'', '' The Dog of Montarges'', and '' Little Pickle'', among others. She retired briefly and returned to perform in ''

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

'', alongside

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 ...

, as

Cordelia Cordelia is a feminine given name. It was borne by the tragic heroine of Shakespeare's ''King Lear'' (1606), a character based on the legendary queen Cordelia. The name is of uncertain origin. It is popularly associated with Latin '' cor'' (gen ...

. Between 1821 and 1822 she performed in plays at the

Haymarket Theatre The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre in Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in ...

and the

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...

. She appeared at the Georgian Wisbech Theatre (now the

Angles Theatre The Angles Theatre is a theatre and historic Georgian playhouse in the market town of Wisbech, Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. It is among the oldest of Britain's theatres. The current premises consists of the original theatre building ...

) in May 1827 in the role of Juliet in

Shakespeare 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 natio ...

's play ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' and also at Peterborough on Saturday 23 June, then on Monday 25th, in the parts of Rosalind in ''As You Like It'' and as the Romp in '' The Romp''. She was described as "small in stature, nervous, with hair inclining to red", which led her to being often cast as a young woman, such as Cordelia or

Juliet Juliet Capulet () is the female protagonist in William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. A 13-year-old girl, Juliet is the only daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet. She falls in love with the male protagonist Ro ...

. She occasionally used the stage name Sally Booth.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Sarah 1793 births 1867 deaths 19th-century English actresses Actresses from Birmingham, West Midlands Place of death missing Actresses from London English Shakespearean actresses English stage actresses