Herne, James A.

Herne, James A. (b. Ahearn)

(1839–1901) actor, playwright; born in Cohoes, N.Y. He began as an actor, then turned to writing melodrama in collaboration with David Belasco. His later, more serious plays were strongly influenced by Ibsen, and were often better esteemed by literary critics than by audiences. Among his most important failures was Margaret Fleming (1891), a play that deals with the consequences of a husband's infidelity.