edward woodward has passed

tonight I was reached by the sad news that British acting veteran EDWARD WOODWARD has passed away. MR. WOODWARD was a staple of my childhood with his moody, urban crime-series "THE EQUALIZER". together with ROBERT URICH:s "SPENCER: FOR HIRE", these two series were the two more mature inspirations in my creative growth, in contrast to the more black-and-white dramatic storytellings of shows such as "THE A-TEAM", "AIRWOLF" and "MAGNUM P.I.". that opening intro sequence, which can be seen down below, has to be one of THE most evocative TV-series intros of all time (and is heavily influenced by MICHAEL JACKSON:s video aesthetics, but without a single beat of glamour or romanticising). for several years, I lost contact with his acting performances, until he sudddenly showed up in a very special featured role in the very last episodes of the fifth and final season of the outstanding spy-series "LA FEMME NIKITA" (who´s writing is ten times better than ANYTHING "Alias" ever managed to deliver, but on one third of it´s production budget). there are several outstanding eulogies out there at the moment, some of which I can higly recommend: here, here and here.

I haven´t seen his most applauded work "THE WICKER MAN", but I am sure to give it a go in the near future. THANK YOU MR. WOODWARD for inspiring me to be a filmmaker and a storyteller; thank you for laying the foundation for my true fascination with actors and their presence and craft. my thoughts go out to MR. WOODWARD´S family, friends and past colleagues and co-workers.