# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/john-wilkes-booth
# Generated: 2026-09-01T05:04:19.780Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/john-wilkes-booth"
name: "John Wilkes Booth"
slug: "john-wilkes-booth"
description: "He shot Abraham Lincoln in the back of the head at Ford's Theatre five days after Lee's surrender, believing the war could still be won. Twelve days later he died paralyzed in a burning barn, tracked down in rural Virginia."
tagline: "American stage actor and assassin (1838–1865)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/John_Wilkes_Booth-portrait.jpg"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
category:
  name: "Actors"
  slug: "actors"
profileType:
  name: "Actor"
  slug: "actor"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q33999"
birthDate: "1838-05-10"
deathDate: "1865-04-26"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           63.93
  momentum:             6.78499915153572
  historical:           28.555584
  currentAttention:     33.62499696977043
  sourceConfidence:     65
  profileCompleteness:  75
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Historical Figures"
    slug: "historical-figures"
  - name: "Actor"
    slug: "actor"
  - name: "Movies"
    slug: "movies"
  - name: "Literature"
    slug: "literature"
  - name: "Theatre"
    slug: "theatre"
  - name: "United States"
    slug: "united-states"
  - name: "Americas"
    slug: "americas"
  - name: "19th Century"
    slug: "19th-century"
platforms:
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6144028/"
    handle:    "nm6144028"
sources:
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q180914"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/John%20Wilkes%20Booth"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%D9%88%D9%86_%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%83%D8%B3_%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AB"
    title: "جون ويلكس بوث"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%D9%88%D9%86_%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%83%D8%B3_%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AB"
    title: "جون ويلكس بوث"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Con_Vilks_But"
    title: "Con Vilks But"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bcl.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth"
    title: "John Wilkes Booth"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%B6%D0%BE%D0%BD_%D0%A3%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%BA%D1%81_%D0%91%D1%83%D1%82"
    title: "Джон Уилкс Бут"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth"
    title: "John Wilkes Booth"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://btm.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth"
    title: "John Wilkes Booth"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth"
    title: "John Wilkes Booth"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth"
    title: "John Wilkes Booth"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth"
    title: "John Wilkes Booth"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth"
    title: "John Wilkes Booth"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A4%CE%B6%CE%BF%CE%BD_%CE%93%CE%BF%CF%85%CE%AF%CE%BB%CE%BA%CF%82_%CE%9C%CF%80%CE%BF%CF%85%CE%B8"
    title: "Τζον Γουίλκς Μπουθ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth"
    title: "John Wilkes Booth"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth"
    title: "John Wilkes Booth"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth"
    title: "John Wilkes Booth"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth"
    title: "John Wilkes Booth"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%88%DB%8C%D9%84%DA%A9%D8%B3_%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AB"
    title: "جان ویلکس بوث"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth"
    title: "John Wilkes Booth"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ga.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth"
    title: "John Wilkes Booth"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://glk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%84%DA%A9%D8%B3_%D8%A8%DB%8A%D8%AB"
    title: "جان ويلکس بۊث"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%92'%D7%95%D7%9F_%D7%95%D7%99%D7%9C%D7%A7%D7%A1_%D7%91%D7%95%D7%AA'"
    title: "ג'ון וילקס בות'"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ht.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth"
    title: "John Wilkes Booth"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://pl.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://sr.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D0%8F%D0%BE%D0%BD_%D0%92%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%BA%D1%81_%D0%91%D1%83%D1%82"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth"
    title: "John Wilkes Booth"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth"
    title: "John Wilkes Booth"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Born May 10, 1838, into Maryland's prominent Booth theatrical family, he built a career as a noted stage actor while nursing Confederate sympathies and denouncing Lincoln over the abolition of slavery. He and a small group first plotted to kidnap the president to aid the Southern cause, then shifted to murder—targeting Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William Seward. On April 14, 1865, four days after Robert E. Lee's surrender, Booth shot Lincoln once in the back of the head at Ford's Theatre, convinced General Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee meant the war remained unresolved. Lincoln died the next morning; Seward survived his wounds; Johnson was never attacked. Booth fled on horseback to Southern Maryland, and twelve days later took refuge in a barn in rural Virginia, where he refused to surrender while his companion David Herold gave himself up. The barn was set on fire, Union soldier Boston Corbett shot him in the neck, and he died paralyzed a few hours later on April 26, 1865.