Michael Sloan, ‘The Equalizer’ Co-Creator, Dies at 78

Michael Sloan, ‘The Equalizer’ Co-Creator, Dies at 78

Michael Sloan, the co-creator of the original TV series The Equalizer, has died. He was 78.

Sloan died Wednesday, Aug. 13, his family announced. While his cause of death isn’t revealed, according to his family, Sloan “passed away peacefully.”

He was known for The Equalizer, where he co-created the action-crime series alongside Richard Lindheim. The show ran on CBS from 1985 to 1989 and starred Edward Woodward. The series inspired the 2014 Denzel Washington-led film of the same name and its 2018 and 2023 sequels. Sloan served as a producer on the movies. Most recently, in 2012, The Equalizer was adapted again into a show starring Queen Latifah, which ran for five seasons but was canceled in May.

Born in New York City on Oct. 14, 1946, Sloan came from an entertainment industry family. His father was Fred Stone, an actor who played the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz on Broadway in 1902. He grew up in London, where he began to write and produce. After he moved back to the U.S. in 1974, his career in television started to take off.

His additional writing and producing credits include McCloud, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, Battlestar Galactica, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues and Quincy, M.E., which also earned him an Emmy nomination. While he was working on the thriller series Alfred Hitchcock Presents, he met his wife and Little House on the Prairie star, Melissa Sue Anderson. The couple married in 1990 and shares two kids, Piper and Griffin.

Sloan is survived by Anderson, Piper, Griffin and his sister, Judy.