John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865) was a 19th-century American stage actor who assassinated US President Abraham Lincoln on 14 April 1865. Born to a family of famous actors, Booth was a rising star on stages across the United States, known for his leading roles in William Shakespeare's plays. He sympathized with the Confederacy during the American Civil War (1861-1865) and denounced Lincoln as a tyrant who sought to subjugate the South. After shooting Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., Booth went on the run and eluded authorities for nearly two weeks. He was finally cornered by Federal soldiers in a barn in rural Virginia, where, after a brief standoff, he was fatally shot in the neck.
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