John Sleeper Clarke

John Sleeper Clarke (September 3, 1833 – September 24, 1899) was a 19th-century American comedian and actor born in Baltimore, Maryland, to George W. Sleeper and Georgianna Sleeper (née Clarke). Educated for the law, Clarke developed an early interest in performance during his boyhood, when he was a schoolmate of Edwin Booth at the Baltimore Thespian Club, where the two engaged in amateur dramatic readings together.

Clarke made his professional debut in Boston in 1851, appearing as Frank Hardy in Paul Pry at the Howard Athenæum. The following year he moved to Philadelphia, and on May 15, 1855, he made his first New York appearance at the Metropolitan Theatre — later known as the Winter Garden — playing Dickory in The Spectre Bridegroom. It was not until his return to that theatre in 1861–1862 that he established a notable reputation in the city. Clarke became part of the Booth family in 1859 through his marriage to Asia Booth, daughter of Junius Brutus Booth and sister of John Wilkes Booth. He subsequently partnered with his brother-in-law Edwin Booth in managing the Winter Garden Theatre in New York, the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, and the Boston Theatre.

The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865 by John Wilkes Booth brought severe personal and professional consequences for Clarke. He came into possession of two letters written by the assassin, which his wife Asia had held, and turned them over to The Philadelphia Inquirer, which published one of them. His actions resulted in his arrest and a month of imprisonment at the Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C. Upon his release, Clarke sought a divorce from Asia in order to distance himself professionally from the Booth name, but she refused. The couple remained married in name only, with Asia later writing of her husband that he lived a free bachelor life. Asia gave birth to twins Creston and Lilian in August 1865, just months after the assassination. She died on May 16, 1888, at the age of 52. Clarke and Asia had nine children in total, and two of their sons, Creston and Wilfred, became actors.

In 1867, Clarke relocated his family to London, where he built the most sustained portion of his career. His first appearance there was at the St James's Theatre, where he played Major Wellington de Boots in Stirling Coyne's Everybody's Friend, a production rewritten for him under the title The Widow's Hunt. In February 1868 at the Princess's Theatre, he took on the role of Salem Scudder in a revival of The Octoroon. He later appeared at the Strand Theatre as the first Young Gosling in Fox Versus Goose, and on July 26, 1869, originated the role of Babington Jones in John Brougham's Among the Breakers. At the Strand he also played Toodles and Dr. Pangloss in The Heir at Law, among other parts. His Broadway appearances in 1870 included starring roles in The School for Reform, Everybody's Friend, and The Toodles, as well as appearances in Fox Versus Goose and Lost Ashore.

Among Clarke's most celebrated roles were Timothy Toodle in William E. Burton's The Toodles, which ran for 200 nights at the Strand Theatre, and two characters from plays by George Colman the Younger: Dr. Pangloss in The Heir at Law and Dr. Ollapod in The Poor Gentleman. Though he had initially aspired to tragedy at the outset of his career, Clarke ultimately devoted himself to comic roles. He managed several London theatres, including the Haymarket, where he preceded the Bancrofts, and his success in England was such that he remained there for the rest of his life, returning to America on only four occasions. He retired from the stage in 1889.

Clarke died suddenly in London on September 24, 1899, at the age of 66. Four days later he was interred at Teddington Cemetery, in what is now the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Among those present at his burial were Clement Scott and his wife, Charles Hawtrey, members of the Strand Theatre staff, and Clarke's sons Creston and Wilfred.