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. With his wife, actor Joan Freeman Kessler, he spent cruised and fished around North America. The couple circumnatigated the globe from 1990 to 1993, visiting 34 countries. The Zopilote’s innovative design proved influential and he became an authority on the subject. A model of the yacht is on display at the Del Ray Yacht Club in Marina Del Rey.
Born in Seattle, his family moved to Beverly Hills where he started his racing car among Hollywood celebrities such as James Dean and Steve McQueen.
He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Joan; brothers Rick and Stephen and many nieces and nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews.
