JAMES A. HERNE Actor, Playwright (1839-1901)

Thought of as the progenitor of the school of playwrighting that aimed at the "realism of character" in the late Nineteenth Century, James A. Herne was a working actor who started writing plays later in his career primarily as vehicles for himself and his wife. His output was small in number, but he, nonetheless, made important contributions to the development of American drama.

Born James Ahearn in 1839, the stage name was supposedly changed because of a typographical error on a set of posters. Whatever the case may be, Herne debuted in 1859 as George Shelby in Uncle Tom's Cabin as a member of the stock company at the Adelphi Theatre in Troy, New York where he spent the next two seasons. He then moved to Baltimore and joined the Holliday Street Theatre. After a brief marriage to Helen Western, he became leading man opposite his ex-wife's sister Lucille in a touring company that took him to California in 1868. The tour completed, he returned to California as a star where he appeared at Maguire's New Theatre and in a short while, was established as stage manager. He began adapting novels and reshaping older material for the stage. When San Francisco's Baldwin's Academy of Music (later Baldwin Theatre) opened in 1876, he became "stage manager' and acted in a great variety of parts.

By this time, he had starred in a variety of leading roles from Sir Archibald in East Lynne to Bill Sykes, Dan'l Peggotty, and Captain Cuttle in adaptations from Dickens, an author to whom he later acknowledged a great debt. He of course also played a number of Boucicault's leading men, seeing in that prolific actor/writer's work the direct appeal of playwright to the emotions of an audience.

In 1878, he married Katherine Corcoran, young actress who had joined the Baldwin Stock Company. Professor Quinn says of this marriage, "it would be difficult to overestimate the importance of this marriage upon Herne's career both as a playwright and as an actor. ...his most important plays were written definitely with her in mind as the leading woman..." He credits Mrs. Herne with reshaping plots and characters in Herne's best works.

1879 saw the first production of what was no doubt his earliest collaboration with David Belasco, Within An Inch of His Life. Next came a collaborative reworking of Watts Phillips' Camilla's Husband, for company members James O'Neill and Rose Coghlan.The result was Marriage by Moonlight.

Then came Chums and controversy. Belasco had brought a draft of the second act of Chums to Herne in the summer of 1879. It was taken from a British play by Henry J. Leslie called The Mariner's Compass which had debuted at the New Bowery Theatre in 1865. Together, Herne and Belasco fleshed out Chums, which opened with Herne as Terry Dennison, Herne's wife, Katherine Corcoran as Chrystal, Annie Adams as Aunt Betsy and Maude Adams as Little Chrystal. It enjoyed a two week run after which it was decided to take the play on tour. Chums didn't do well until it reached Chicago where it made a success at Hamlin's Theatre. Another tour followed and a rival producer who had previously turned it down brought it out at Hooley's Theatre under a new name, Hearts of Oak. Meantime, Hamlin opened The Mariner's Compass at Hamlin's calling it Hearts of Oak. A lawsuit ensued in which it was finally determined that anyone could play The Mariner's Compass since it was a British play and not subject to our copyright laws, but that the title Hearts of Oak belonged to Herne and Belasco.

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