Dennis Krausnick, founding member of Shakespeare & Co., dies

LENOX, Mass. – A founding member of the Massachusetts theatre company Shakespeare & Co., who in the organization’s 40 years served as an actor, director, writer and teacher, has died. Dennis Krausnick was 76.

The Lenox-based company says Krausnick died Tuesday at his Stockbridge home after a battle with prostate cancer and Parkinson’s disease.

Krausnick was married to the company’s founder and longtime artistic director, Tina Packer.

Packer in a statement says that condolences have come from all over the world and that her husband “loved the interaction of asking questions, putting the voice in the body, and speaking out.”

Krausnick was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1973. It was while he was studying for a master’s of fine art in acting at New York University that he met Packer. They helped found Shakespeare & Co. in 1978.