ONE MAN ARMY! REMEMBERING 'THE EQUALIZER'!

The ultimate scum removal service! Edward Woodward is THE EQUALIZER. Image: CBS/ UNIVERSAL.

One of the more pleasing aspects of Hollywood is that you don't have to be young to be an international star. Take seasoned British actor Edward Woodward, well known and much loved in the UK for his four year role as the gritty British spy CALLAN in the sixties and seventies. He had appeared in numerous films (including noteworthy projects like the scary and iconic THE WICKER MAN, the Australian drama BREAKER MORANT and SAS action-hit WHO DARES WINS), and was also a very talented singer, but he had never at that time managed to make the transitional jump to big-time American success. But that was to change in the eighties. Enter rising star writer/producer Michael Sloan, who, obviously a fan of the actors intense and action-packed performance as moody but magnificent Callan, boldly cast him in a new series, co-created with Richard Lindheim, that would soon make Woodward a household name across the United States and beyond: the hugely successful thriller CBS running series THE EQUALIZER, with Woodward playing ex- spy Robert McCall, who, on a weekly basis, and with shades of his former British agent identity layered into his performance, begin his bold audience pleasing quest to turn the tide against the ever present criminal hordes, psychopaths and killers rampant in a then crime soaring America, most notably concentrated in New York. McCall would be the ultimate vigilante for hire, and right from the start, as he emerged from the shadows of a dimly lit alley, his aura captured in back lit car lights, his character and the series bold intentions struck a chord of hope and defiance into the hearts of Stateside viewers suffering from muggings, assaults, robberies and break-ins-at a time in history when citizens were often taking to the street in protest and resilience wanting to take the fight back to their assailants in the kind of way that hadn't been seen since the early seventies notoriety of Charles Bronson's original DEATH WISH movie. Remember those real-life red bereted Guardian Angels that would patrol the Manhattan subways?

The Equalizer. (Original Intro Music And Vid Extended) - YouTube

With his intelligence, cunning and often brute force, McCall would have been a god send in the then eighties New York, though fortunately, thanks to the heroism of real-life dedicated police officers and other vital law makers, the crime rate in New York would thankfully be cut down vastly in the years to come. Meanwhile, Woodward would make the most of his success in the lead series role, often hugged and cheered on by the enthusiastic and grateful public watching him filming on their streets, and becoming a sex symbol of sorts long before that other UK thespian Patrick Stewart came along as Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Sadly and unluckily, after two huge rating seasons, major health issues and a very scary heart attack forced Woodward to seek time off from the hectic and very heavy filming requirements the show beget, with American star Michael Jordan filling in for him as McCall's partner-in-battle, Harley Gage, as well as the inspired guesting of the intimidating presence of film-legend Robert Mitchum. As the series went on, the vigilanted figure's storytelling gave way to other dramatic aspects of the characters history, namely in his interactions with his former spy masters at The Agency, enigmatically led by the mysterious Control (Robert Lansing, best known worldwide to TV viewers as the enigmatic alien/human spy Gary Seven in the original sixties STAR TREK).

Making a mark with its 88 episodes over four seasons, with an immense run of popular guest stars, including the likes of Christan Slater, Bradley Whitford, Steve Buscemi, Patricia Clarkson, Stanley Tucci, Cynthia Nixon and even Adam Ant!, there wasn't anything quite like THE EQUALIZER on American television at that time, and it would also be a solid hit with the stars many British fans, too. With its ultimate conclusion, Woodward would prove a popular guest star on many other US and UK TV series before his sad passing , but its as Callan and McCall that he would leave an indelible and long lasting mark in popular TV culture, so much so that a long rumoured film version of THE EQUALIZER, starring Denzel Washington in the title role, is apparently now in the works. It looks like the scales of justice will very soon be firmly back on the heroes side once again...

Season Four of THE EQUALIZER is now available on DVD from FABULOUS FILMS. Get it here:
The Equalizer - Season Four [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Edward Woodward, Laurence Fishburne, Ving Rhames, Stanley Tucci: Film & TV