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b'What if People magazine\\u2019s \\u201cSexiest Man Alive\\u201d assassinated a U.S. President? John Wilkes Booth has been despised as a traitor, hailed as a martyr, and dismissed as a lunatic. But in the 1860s he was considered the \\u201chandsomest man in America\\u201d? Before cementing his name in history by assassinating President Lincoln, this actor extraordinaire was the Leonardo DiCaprio of the 1860s. Women packed the audiences wherever Booth played, pawed him for autographs, and tore at his clothes for souvenirs.

Women could not resist him\\u2014nor could he resist them.

Today on the show I am joined by E. Lawrence Abel, author of the new book John Wilkes Booth and the Women Who Loved Him. He discusses stories of stories of infatuation, flings, and heartbreak that Booth interwove throughout his theatrical career and assassination plot. We specifically discussHow Actress Henrietta Irving attempted to kill him in a jealous rageThe \\u201cStar Sisters\\u201d broke up their act after a jealous falling-out over himPhotos of five women were found on Booth\\u2019s body, and only one was of his fianc\\xe9e


Booth\\u2019s life was as dramatic as any play. Actor, lover, and assassin, Booth was a complex man whose shocking crime changed the course of American history and cast him forever in the role of an American villain.'