THE EQUALIZER DIES …

Edward Woodward, 79, an urbane and versatile British stage actor who specialized in playing introspective men of conscience and who gained his widest following on the TV drama “The Equalizer” as a disillusioned spy who offers his services to ordinary people, died of pneumonia Monday at a hospital in Cornwall, England. Woodward’s career was largely overshadowed by “The Equalizer,” which brought him five Emmy Award nominations during its run on CBS from 1985 to 1989. He played Robert McCall, who in retirement from espionage, puts himself at the service of clients who have “exhausted all conventional means of law enforcement.” The Equalizer was an American urban vigilante television series initially broadcast on CBS between 1985 and 1989.
The show’s distinctive theme song became a hit for Stewart Copeland. He was an appropriate choice, as both of his parents had intelligence connections. His father, Miles Copeland, Jr. was one of the founding members of the Office of Strategic Services, the World War II predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency, while his mother, Lorraine Copeland, worked with British military intelligence during that war.
In 1988, I.R.S. Records released the Stewart Copeland album The Equalizer & Other Cliff Hangers, which featured some of Copeland’s Equalizer score. The fourth track, “The Equalizer Busy Equalizing”, is an extended version of the show’s main theme. The original theme can be found on Television’s Greatest Hits Vol.7-Cable Ready CD.