Herndon, Richard G[ilbert] (1873?–1958), manager. He was born in Paris and educated at private schools before producing his first play in 1914. But it failed to reach New York, so Herndon began importing celebrated foreign performers and companies, including Théâtre du Vieux Colombier and Théâtre Parisien, as well as several famous ballet troupes. With his profits from these tours, he returned to more traditional, commercial theatre with offerings that ranged from the commonplace to the daring. Taking over two of Broadway's most intimate playhouses, the Belmont and the Klaw, Herndon produced Elliot Nugent's first play, the popular Kempy (1922). The next year, working with Professor George Pierce Baker of Harvard, he offered a prize for a new play. The result was Philip Barry's first New York production, You and I (1923). Among Herndon's other successes were Hurricane (1923), The Patsy (1925), Americana (1926), Sinner (1927), and The Unexpected Husband (1931). His more noteworthy failures included Maxwell Anderson's Gypsy (1929).