One of the best-known American actresses in the mid-1800s was Charlotte Cushman, who starred not only in traditional female parts but also in such male roles as Romeo in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
Laura Keene, who managed her own theater company, played many leading parts while directing the other actors.
In 1865 she identified President Abraham Lincoln’s assassin.
A popular comic actress was Lotta Crabtree, who became a star in the mid-1860s at age 16; she was one of the top-earning performers of her day.
