Bruce Kessler, who was known for his avid passion for race car driving as much as he was for his directing, has died in his Marina del Rey home after a short illness, his family told the Hollywood Reporter. He was 88.
Kessler directed episodes of “The Monkees,” “It Takes a Thief,” and “MacGyver.” In addition to directing, Kessler was an enthusiastic race car drive and boater. As reported by Soundings Magazine, he began racing when he was 16 with his mom’s Jaguar XK120. Within 8 years, he was seriously injured in a car crash at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
A second, and then third, car crash pushed Kessler into directing and he soon released his first short, “The Sound of Speed,” which was submitted to the 1962 Cannes International Film Festival. He followed that up with four movies before he began his long career in television.
His additional credits included “The Flying Nun,” “CHiPS,” “The A-Team,” “American Hustle,” and “The Fall Guy.”
Kessler was born in Seattle, Washington, on March 23, 1936. He and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was a child and his parents began a successful swimwear company. The family soon moved to Beverly Hills, where he met and befriended fellow race car enthusiast James Dean.
That friendship almost proved fatal, his brother Stephen wrote in March. In a piece for the Santa Cruz Sentinel, he explained, “Bruce was supposed to ride with Dean in his silver Porsche to the road races in Salinas on the day he died in 1955 but, due to a last-minute change of plan, drove up with another friend.”
Stephen added that his brother’s “third act in life” was spent was spent at sea. Beginning in 1990, he and his wife spent three years traveling the whole of the Earth by water with a small crew. When they made it back to the United States some 35,000 miles later, their boat “Zopilote” had become the sixth powerboat to finish a circumnavigation.
That trip launched him to fame within the boating community. Sounding reported, “Always calm, modest, and ‘aw-shucks’ self-effacing, Bruce took his newfound yachting celebrity in stride always ready to lend a hand to others who dreamed of crossing oceans or just cruising under power. He was a popular speaker at TrawlerFests, boat shows, yacht clubs, and other boating gatherings.”
Sadly, his boat sank in 1994 after hitting a ledge in Alaska.
Kessler is survived by his wife, Joan Freeman, and his brothers Stephen and Rick.
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