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Light a Candle
Maximillian Bryer was born and grew up in Flint, Michigan. He was the youngest of four children and the son of parents who had emigrated from Russia. When the United States entered the Second World War, Max enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and fought in the Pacific theater, reaching the rank of First Lt. On returning to the U.S., Max was a beneficiary of the G.I. Bill, which enabled him to finish his studies at the University of Michigan. After graduating college with a Master's degree, Max took off for the bright lights of New York city. Network television was in its infancy in the late forties, and Max got in on the ground floor, working at DuMont Network Television and then as a Director at CBS. He next got a job on Madison Avenue with the prestigious advertising firm of Benton and Bowles. And when they offered him the chance to go work in the Los Angeles office, Max jumped at the opportunity and decamped to the West Coast and the glamour and glitter of Hollywood. As Vice President in charge of West Coast Television production, Max directed and produced commercials and day time soaps, picking up an Emmy in 1973 for Outstanding Achievement in Daytime Drama. At Benton and Bowles, Max worked with many Hollywood luminaries including Bob Hope, Andy Griffiths, Danny Thomas, and Don Knotts. In September 1968, at the age of 46. the once confirmed, eligible bachelor made the best decision of his life and married Judy Seal. At the time Judy, who was an Englishwoman living in Los Angeles, had been working as personal assistant to the comedian Bill Dana (aka Jose Jiminez). The Bryer's were married in London, England, and then set up home on Mulholland Drive with a spectacular view overlooking the San Fernando Valley. They soon started a family there, raising two beautiful daughters - Samantha and Victoria. In the late seventies, Max left Benton and Bowles and started his own company, Bryer Patch Productions. He won a large contract to produce and direct Sanyo commercials. And for twenty years, he worked on many other commercials, working with big-name stars such as Joan Collins, who remains a close family friend of the Bryers to this day. In 1997, Max retired, and he and Judy moved to Summerlin, a suburb of Las Vegas, Nevada. Within no time at all, they established themselves as active members of the community. And it was there twenty-three years later that Max, after having lived a long and full life, passed away peacefully in his sleep, surrounded by his family on June 16, 2020. Max will be laid to rest at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City, Nevada. He is survived by his wife of fifty-two years, Judith Bryer; his daughters, Samantha Bryer and Victoria Dade; his son-in-law Rick Dade; and his two grandchildren Benjamin and Nathan Dade.
