He was intended for the church, and to attend Trinity College, Cambridge; but in 1698 he ran away and obtained employment in a theatrical company in Dublin, where he made his first appearance as the title character in Aphra Behn's Oroonoko.
After two seasons in Ireland he returned to London, where Thomas Betterton, who had previously failed to help him, probably out of regard for Booth's family, now gave him all the assistance in his power.
[1] He also starred in Rowe's tragedies Ulysses (1705) as Telemachus and The Royal Convert (1707) as Hengist, King of Kent.
Booth was twice married; his second wife, Hester Santlow, a noted actress, survived him.
"I endeavour'd to divide the Rectum and tie it , but it was so rotten that it broke between my Fingers like Tinder , and sent forth a most offensive cadaverous Stench..." The whole intestinal track on the inside was covered with black balls of mercury the size of pinheads.