|
Over the years several people have asked me how I came to
be such a big Lansing fan. Well... it all started in 1985 when I was a sophomore in college and got hooked on a
new television series called The Equalizer. To be honest, I was first drawn to the show because of Edward Woodward.
I remember seeing the previews for the show over the summer, and something about a mysterious man in a trench coat standing
in front of that black Jag really got my attention. I watched the pilot episode and was immediately caught up in
the world of Robert McCall.
From the beginning, my favorite aspect of the show was McCall's
relationship with Control, which I found absolutely fascinating. It was so complex - one minute they were ready to kill
each other, and the next they were saving each other's lives. Woodward and Lansing made the characters seem so
real and they had such great chemistry together, mainly because they were both brilliant actors.
Believe it or not, I was not aware of who Lansing was until
I saw him in The Equalizer. I had absolutely no idea that he had starred in three TV series
in the '60s or had performed on Broadway or had guest-starred in hundreds of television programs. If I knew his
name, it was only because I used to watch the soaps and had read somewhere that he had been married to Emily McLaughlin,
who played Jessie Brewer on General Hospital. That was the extent of my knowledge of him.
I watched The Equalizer religiously until it was
unceremoniously cancelled by the morons at CBS in 1989. Of course I was very upset when I found out it had
not been picked up for a fifth season, but I had just recently graduated from college and gotten married and was busy starting
a new chapter in my life. The show and Lansing and Woodward sort of faded away, although I always had
very fond memories of them.
Fast forward to Christmas 1997 when I got my very first
computer. I quickly discovered the wonders of the internet, and one day I was playing around and decided to
see if I could find out what ever happened to Edward Woodward. That search led me to Pamela Lerch's incredible
site, which chronicled his entire career. She had an extensive section on The Equalizer, and I was in heaven.
I spent hours there reliving the series and talking to other fans about the show.
Around that same time, A&E began re-running The
Equalizer on weekday mornings, and, in conjunction, Pamela started an in-depth discussion of each
episode on her site. Many people, including myself, participated in those discussions, and as I watched each episode,
I found myself more and more fascinated by Control and Robert Lansing's portrayal of him. I began trying to
find out as much information about him as I could, and started collecting all of his work that I could get my hands on.
As my collection grew, I decided to start this website so
other Lansing fans would have a place to come and learn more about him. I launched the website on September 4,
2001, and while it has grown tremendously since then, I still have literally hundreds of items that I need
to add.
Over the last ten years, I have met many wonderful people
through my appreciation of Lansing, including several members of his family. On two separate occasions, several fans
have gotten together with various family members in New York and had dinner at The Players' Club, the actors
group he was president of shortly before his death. Both gatherings were very memorable, and we are all looking
forward to the next one scheduled for June 2008.
I continue to be fascinated by him and his work and love
to communicate with other Lansing fans. If you would like to discuss any aspect of his life or career, or if you have
any comments, suggestions, or questions about this website, please feel free to contact me at: pschoolcraft@comcast.net
ABOUT ME
My name is Paige Schoolcraft and I live in a small town in
the beautiful Appalachian Mountains of Southwest Virginia. I graduated from Carson-Newman College in 1988 with a B.A.
degree in History, which is absolutely worthless unless you teach, which I have done in the past. Right now, I stay
at home and fight my never-ending battle with laundry, and try to remember which kid I'm supposed to pick up from what
practice and when. My great loves are my husband John and our three kids, RL, Virginia Tech football, chatting with
my friends, writing fan fiction, Midsomer Murders (a British detective series), and country music,
especially George Strait and Johnny Cash.
|
