‘David Copperfield and ‘Doctor Who’ Actress Tina Packer Has Died

Actress, writer and director Tina Packer has died. She was 87.

Packer, known for her TV roles and her influential theatre teachings, died earlier this month surrounded by her son and her close friends.

The English actress got her start in the U.K. with appearances in programs like Doctor Who and David Copperfield before traveling to the U.S. to form Shakespeare & Company in 1978.

The highly influential theatre organization based out of Lenox, Massachusetts is still operating to this day, with one writer calling her “one of the foremost directors of Shakespeare” thanks to her willingness to properly wield Shakespeare’s text for a modern audience. She founded Shakespeare & Company with Dennis Krausnick, who later became her husband.

Packer served as director of Shakespeare & Company from its founding until 2009 when she stepped down.

In between, she taught Shakespeare at Columbia University and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. She was also given a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Shakespeare Theatre Association in 2019.

A statement from Shakespeare & Company’s current artistic director honored her legacy, noting that she was “a fiery force of nature with an indomitable spirit.”

“Her indelible creativity will be carried forward by countless artists, students, colleagues, admirers and friends, and her influence on the world of Shakespeare will be enduring,” director Allyn Burrows wrote. “The world was her stage, and she furthered the Berkshires as a destination for the imagination.”

She is survived by her son, her two brothers, and several nieces and nephews. Her husband, Dennis Krausnick, passed away in 2018. She never remarried.