Condell's early life is obscure. It appears that he may have been from
East Anglia, as his will mentions 'my Cosen Gilder late of
newe Buckenham’. According to Edmond: The only Henry Condell so far discovered at a suitable date in that part of England was the son of a Robert Condell of St Peter Mancroft, Norwich, a fishmonger, and his wife, Joan, née Yeomans, of New Buckenham, a market town not far from Norwich. Henry Condell, presumably their son, was baptized at St Peter on 5 September 1576. Traditionally, he is associated with the "Harry" who appears in the cast list for
Richard Tarlton's
The Seven Deadly Sins, but this identification is little more than conjecture. If the connection is true, then Condell was an actor as early as 1590, acting in
Lord Strange's Men alongside
John Heminges and
Augustine Phillips. Condell was definitely in London by 24 October 1596, when he married, at
St Laurence Pountney, Elizabeth Smart (d.1635), the only child of John Smart of the
Strand, gentleman. They settled in
St Mary Aldermanbury, the parish in which Heminges lived. Condell, like Heminges, served as
churchwarden in that church. Nine children were baptized there, born between 1599 and 1614, of whom only three survived to adulthood: Elizabeth (baptized 26 October 1606), who married Herbert Finch; Henry (baptized 6 May 1610, died 1630); and William (baptized 26 May 1611). Details of Condell's mature life, as is usual for Renaissance actors, are few. His status within the
Lord Chamberlain's and
King's companies appears to have been high; in official communications he is generally listed shortly after
Burbage and Heminges. Actors' wills indicate that he was close to at least some of his colleagues in the company. Shakespeare and Phillips bequeathed him money for mourning rings;
Nicholas Tooley and
Alexander Cooke named him as trustee for their estates. Condell prospered enough in his profession to purchase a country home at
Fulham in
Middlesex and other property, including an estate called Brockhampton in
Snowshill,
Gloucestershire. The indentures recording the latter purchase contain the only known example of Condell's signature or handwriting apart from his last will. In addition to
Every Man in His Humour (1598) and
Every Man Out of His Humour (1599), Condell is known to have performed in four more of
Jonson's plays:
Sejanus (1603),
Volpone (1605),
The Alchemist (1610), and
Catiline (1611). He was the original Cardinal in
John Webster's
The Duchess of Malfi (c. 1613). And he was listed in eight of the cast lists that were added to the
second Beaumont and Fletcher folio of
1679: •
Bonduca •
The Captain •
The Humorous Lieutenant •
The Knight of Malta •
The Loyal Subject •
The Mad Lover •
The Queen of Corinth •
Valentinian in London, commemorating their work with Shakespeare Condell appears to have ended his stage career around 1619. He signed each of the nine sheets of his last will and testament on 13 December 1627. He died at Fulham aged 51, and was buried at St Mary Aldermanbury on 29 December 1627. His widow, Elizabeth, was buried there on 3 October 1635. Condell left an extensive estate, including shares in the
Globe and
Blackfriars Theatres. ==Fictional portrayals==