John Sleeper Clarke 003

A photo of John Sleeper Clarke (1833-1899) American actor born in Baltimore, Maryland as 'John C Sleeper' to parents Jonathan Sleeper (1785-1836) and Georgianna Clark (1788-1862). He was a classmate of Edwin Booth and in 1859 he married Asia Frigga Booth (1835-1888), (the sister of John Wilkes Booth), they had eight children together.

John Sleeper Clarke was caught up in the controversy surrounding the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and was imprisoned for publishing a letter to his wife written by John Wilkes Booth. After spending a month in prison, he tried to separate from his wife, but she refused to divorce him. In 1867 the family moved to London where he died in Kingston, Surrey 1899 aged 66.