James A. Herne (born James Ahearn; February 1, 1839 – June 2, 1901) was an American playwright and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. He is considered by some critics to be the "American Ibsen", and his controversial play '' Margaret Fleming'' is often credited with having begun modern

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

in America. Herne was a Georgist and wrote Shore Acres to promote the political economy of

Henry George Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...

Biography

Stage actor

James A. Herne was born February 1, 1839, in

Cohoes, New York Cohoes ( ) is an incorporated city located in the northeast corner of Albany County in the U.S. state of New York. It is called the "Spindle City" because of the importance of textile manufacturing to its growth in the 19th century. The city's f ...

. His parents were poor Irish immigrants who removed him from school at age thirteen to work in a brush factory. Herne decided to become an actor the next year but was twenty before he could join a traveling

troupe Troupe may refer to: General * Comedy troupe, a group of comedians *Dance troupe, a group of dancers ** Fire troupe, a group of fire dancers * Troupe system, a method of playing role-playing games * Theatrical troupe, a group of theatrical perform ...

. He made his debut in 1859 as George in a production of ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U ...

'' in Troy, New York. He enjoyed modest success as a young actor, appearing in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

with the John Thompson Ford company in the early 1860s. He was the leading man for the Lucille Western Touring Company from 1865 to 1867. He was briefly married, in the early 1860s, to Lucille's sister Helen Western, an actress who later became romantically involved with

John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838 – April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who assassinated United States President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the prominent 19th-century Booth ...

. Herne managed the Grand Opera House at 23rd and 8th Avenue in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

for a season.

He then moved to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

in 1870 to manage several other theaters. In San Francisco, he met

David Belasco David Belasco (July 25, 1853 – May 14, 1931) was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director, and playwright. He was the first writer to adapt the short story ''Madame Butterfly'' for the stage. He launched the theatrical career of ...

, with whom he collaborated on at least three of his plays. He also met and married his second wife, actress Katherine Corcoran. The couple had five children, one son, John, and four daughters, Alma, Dorothy, Julie and Katherine Chrystal who usually went by the name Chrystal Herne. Dorothy and Julie were also actresses.

Mary Elitch Long Mary Elitch Long (maiden name Hauck) (May 10, 1856 – July 16, 1936) was one of the original owners of Elitch Gardens in Denver, CO. She was the first woman to own and manage a zoo—the first zoo between Chicago and the west coast—and one of t ...

recounted seeing Ahearn in 1889: "A pleasant episode of a visit to New York during the winter...was meeting James A. Herne. Frank Mayo, who had never seen his old friend in his masterpiece, Shore Acres, sat beside me, and during the beautiful scene where the actor, candle in hand, passes up the kitchen stairs and stops to look back, Frank gently took my hand and sighed. I saw the tears that brimmed his eyes. We were the last to leave the theatre; some blocks away he spoke for the first time: 'That was the greatest piece of acting I ever saw.' "This genuine tribute came from a man who himself was the country's idol."

Playwright

Herne was the first American playwright to incorporate dramatic realism. He ventured away from nineteenth century dramatic romance and melodrama. Much of Herne's work faded into obscurity in the twentieth century. However, he exerted a profound influence, directing American dramatic literature toward the depiction of complex socially realities. This was illustrated in his controversial play ''Margaret Fleming'' (1890). The work singled him out as an influential figure in 19th-century drama. Herne's first successful play, '' Hearts of Oak'', was written and produced with Belasco in 1879. After this, Herne focused mostly on writing. Of his later plays, only a handful saw financial success in his lifetime. He continued to act, often in his own works, but also in the plays of others. In 1897 Herne played ''Nathaniel Berry'' in ''Shore Acres'' at the

Harlem Opera House Harlem Opera House was a US opera house located at 211 West 125th Street, in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Designed by architect John B. McElfatrick, it was built in 1889 by Oscar Hammerstein; it was his first theater ...

. It was the sixth consecutive season that he portrayed this character.

Death

James A. Herne died at his home, 79 Convent Avenue, in Manhattan, New York City, on June 2, 1901, at 5:00 pm of pneumonia. He initially fell ill two months earlier in Chicago, where he was appearing in his production ''

Sag Harbor Sag Harbor is an incorporated village in Suffolk County, New York, United States, in the towns of Southampton and East Hampton on eastern Long Island. The village developed as a working port on Gardiner's Bay. The population was 2,772 at the 2 ...

''.

Works

* ''Within an Inch of his Life'' with David Belasco 1879 * ''Marriage by Moonlight'' with David Belasco 1879 * '' Hearts of Oak'' with David Belasco 1879 from "The Mariner's Compass" by Henry Leslie * ''The Minute Men'' 1886 * ''Drifting Apart'' 1888 * '' Margaret Fleming'' 1890 * '' Shore Acres'' 1893 * ''Art for Truth's Sake'' (essay) 1897 * ''The Reverend Griffith Davenport'' 1899 * ''

'' 1900

Footnotes

External links

with photo * {{DEFAULTSORT:Herne, James 1839 births 1901 deaths People from Cohoes, New York American people of Irish descent Writers from New York (state) 19th-century American male actors American male stage actors Vaudeville performers Male actors from New York (state) 19th-century American dramatists and playwrights Georgists