CONDELL, HENRY

died December 1627, London, Eng. English actor who was one of the chief movers in sponsoring and preparing the First Folio of 1623, the first collection of William Shakespeare's plays. Condell and John Heminge jointly signed the letters to the noble patrons and the great variety of readers that preface the volume. Condell may have been acting as early as 159091, but he first certainly appeared in 1598 in Ben Jonson's Every Man In His Humour. Thereafter he performed regularly with Shakespeare's company, the Chamberlain's Men (after 1603, King's Men). Condell played the role of the Cardinal in John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi and may have had leading roles in works by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher. About 1616 he retired from the stage. Condell's name and that of John Heminge were linked with Shakespeare's for 30 years: they had been shareholders and fellow actors in the Blackfriars and Globe theatres; Shakespeare left each of them a token remembrance in his will.