Bruce Kessler

Bruce Kessler was an up-and-coming race car driver--he drove for Porsche at LeMans in 1957--before suffering a head injury at the 1959 Examiner Grand Prix. Doctors said the young driver couldn't race for a year, so the 22-year-old went to Hollywood as a technical adviser, helping movie directors film race footage and stage high-speed chases. (Among those Kessler benefited: Arthur Penn and his 1967 crime classic, "Bonnie and Clyde.") Kessler became an understudy to legendary "Rio Bravo" director Howard Hawks, a race-car driving enthusiast, who gave Kessler the education and connections to direct.

Kessler started off helming B movies such as the draft-dodging comedy "The Gay Deceivers" and "Killers Three," a heist drama starring--no kidding--New Year's Eve icon Dick Clark. Tired of the critical pounding and wanting more time to sail, Kessler, an accomplished seaman, became a full-time television director in the 1970s, where he worked on everything from "The Rockford Files" to "Baywatch Nights" before retiring in 1997.

Kessler died on April 4, 2024 in Marina del Rey, CA at the age of 88.