U.S. playwright who helped bridge the gap between 19th-century melodrama and the 20th-century drama of ideas.

After several years as a travelling actor, Herne scored an impressive success with his first play, Hearts of Oak (1879), written with the young David Belasco. Subsequent dramas, Drifting Apart (1885), The Minute Men (1886), and Margaret Fleming (1890), did not achieve the same popularity. Margaret Fleming, a drama of marital infidelity, has been judged his major achievement. Herne's most popular play, Shore Acres, was first presented in 1892. Herne was especially strong in character delineation.