Richard Lindheim In a career spanning four decades, the veteran television executive also produced the NBC comedy 'B.J. and the Bear.' Richard Lindheim, the co-creator of the 1985 CBS series The Equalizer, has died. He was 81. The veteran television executive died Monday morning of heart failure, his son-in-law Ezra Dweck told The Hollywood Reporter. Lindheim had a four-decade-long career in television, taking in stints at CBS, NBC, Universal and Paramount, but is most closely associated with The Equalizer which has spawned a film series starring Denzel Washington and an upcoming TV reboot on CBS starring Queen Latifah. The Equalizer, which Lindheilm co-created with Michael Sloan, debuted on CBS in September 1985. The crime drama starred British actor Edward Woodward as a well-dressed, Jaguar-driving former intelligence officer who offered his specialist services to people in distress. The series ran for four seasons, ending in August 1989.