Bruce Kessler, Prolific TV Director and Adventurer, Dies at 88
variety.comPat Saperstein Deputy Editor Bruce Kessler, a race car driver who became a TV director as well as a noted yacht designer, died April 4 in Marina Del Rey, Calif.
after a brief illness. He was 88. His brother Stephen confirmed his death. Kessler started racing at the age of 17 and at 21, he crashed at night during thte 24 Hours of Le Mans, bailing out of the car before it burst into flames.
He survived two more crashes before retiring from racing at 26 in 1962. His first film, the Formula One short “The Sound of Speed,” represented the U.S.
at the Cannes Film Festival. The technical expertise he brought to the film led to him being hired as technical advisor on racing and chase sequences for movies, and he served as second unit director for Howard Hawks on “Red Line 7000.” With the help of Hawks as mentor, Kessler became a director for dozens of TV movies and series including “The Rockford Files,” “McCloud,” “Marcus Welby, MD,” “Mission: Impossible,” “The Knight Rider,” “The Fall Guy,” “CHiPs,” “Barnaby Jones,” “The Monkees,” “The A-Team” and “The Flying Nun.” He later began designing boats, building a yacht, the Zopilote, built on the hull of a fishing trawler and created for marlin fishing.
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