Kessler Family Courtesy
Bruce Kessler was a long-time adventurer and director of TV. He died on 4 April. He was 88.
Kessler became a racecar driver at 16 years old. He was one of the very first Americans to circumnavigate a globe in a motoryacht, and he logged more than 100,000 nautical miles with his cruise boats. Milt Bakker, his friend, said that Kessler retired from racing soon after surviving a few car crashes.
He switched from racing vehicles to filmmaking. He made “The Sound of Speed,” his first short film, which represented the United States at the 1962 Cannes International Film Festival. It featured a chase scene, and he became an expert in directing chases.
Kessler directed a handful of movies and many popular television series, including episodes of “Mission Impossible,” “The Rockford Files” and “MacGyver.”
