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. Bruce Kessler died on April 4, 2024 in Marina del Rey, CA at the age of 88.
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
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No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Cruise Into Terror | Director | - | 1978 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Deathmoon | Director | - | 1978 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Two-Five | Director | - | 1978 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Murder in Peyton Place | Director | - | 1977 |
No Score Yet |
|
Simon, King of the Witches | Director | - | 1971 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Gay Deceivers | Director | - | 1969 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Killers Three | Director | - | 1968 |
No Score Yet |
|
Angels From Hell | Director | - | 1968 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Diagnosis Murder | Director | 1995 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Commish | Director | 1994 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Young Riders | Director | 1989 |
No Score Yet | 70% | MacGyver | Director | 1987 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer | Director | 1986 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Last Precinct | Director | 1986 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Fall Guy | Director | 1983 1985-1986 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Hunter | Director | 1984-1985 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Master | Director | 1984 |
No Score Yet | 80% | Knight Rider | Director | 1983 |
No Score Yet | 71% | The A-Team | Director | 1983 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Hart to Hart | Director | 1983 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Chicago Story | Director | 1982 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | CHiPs | Director | 1979-1981 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo | Director | 1981 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | B.J. and the Bear | Director | 1980 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Barnaby Jones | Director | 1978-1979 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | McCloud | Director | 1970 1974-1975 1977 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Quincy, M.E. | Director | 1977 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Rockford Files | Director | 1976 |
100% | 84% | Kolchak: The Night Stalker | Director | 1975 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Ironside | Director | 1975 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Alias Smith and Jones | Director | 1971 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Adam-12 | Director | 1969-1970 |
No Score Yet | 58% | I Dream of Jeannie | Director | 1970 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Flying Nun | Director | 1968 |