BRIAN KAISER BIOGRAPHY

BRIAN KAISER : PERSONAL BIOGRAPHY

MR. KAISER IS A NATIVE OF FREMONT, OHIO, WHERE HE WAS RAISED ON A SMALL FARM.  HE ATTENDED BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY, WHERE HE ACQUIRED A CUM LAUDE B.A., AND SUMMA CUM LAUDE M.A. IN SPEECH, THEATRE, HISTORY, AND PHILOSOPHY.

    HE IS A PROFESSIONAL ACTOR WHO CAME TO CALIFORNIA IN 1981, AND HAS APPEARED IN NUMEROUS COMMERCIALS AND TV SITCOMS. BRIAN ALSO MANAGED A EUROPEAN ANTIQUE IMPORT BUSINESS IN BURBANK FOR 20 YEARS. MR. KAISER ALSO WORKS IN ARCHITECTURAL SALVAGE, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON ANTIQUE TILE. BRIAN HAS ALWAYS ENJOYED ANTIQUES, HISTORY, ARCHITECTURE, AND “A GOOD STORY”.

    SINCE 1987, MR. KAISER HAS OWNED THE HOME OF RUFUS KEELER, FOUNDER AND PLANT MANAGER OF THE CALCO AND MALIBU POTTERIES. HE HAS EXTENSIVELY RESEARCHED MR. KEELER’S LIFE, INCLUDING MANY INTERVIEWS WITH KEELER’S FAMILY, AND SEVERAL YEARS OF EXCAVATION AT THE ORIGINAL CALCO POTTERY SITE.

    OWNING MR. KEELER’S HOME, HAS MADE BRIAN FEEL LIKE A SPECIAL EXTENSION OF THE KEELER FAMILY, AND HOPES TO SOME DAY WRITE A BOOK ON MR. KEELER, HIS HOME, AND HIS AMAZING WORK. THE MALIBU LAGOON MUSEUM HAS ALREADY PRODUCED TWO BEAUTIFUL BOOKS ON THE MALIBU POTTERIES; BUT CALCO, MR. KEELER’S HOME, AND MUCH OF HIS OTHER WORK HAS BEEN LARGELY NEGLECTED, AND NOT PUBLISHED.

RIZZOLI PUBLISHING HAS RECENTLY TAKEN A SERIES OF PROFESSIONAL PICTURES OF MR. KEELER’S HOME, AND THE HOUSE WILL BE FEATURED IN CASA PACIFICA, THEIR NEXT BOOK ON SPANISH COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE ON THE WEST COAST. 

IN THE MIDST OF TRACKING DOWN AND IDENTIFYING MANY ANTIQUE TILE INSTALLATIONS, BRIAN HAD TO LEARN HOW TO EXTRACT AND CLEAN VINTAGE TILE, SO IT COULD BE SAVED FROM DEMOLITION OR REMODELING. IMMENSE QUANTITIES OF OUR CERAMIC HERITAGE ARE BEING DESTROYED EVERY DAY.

MR. KAISER’S GREATEST FEAT OF URBAN ARCHAEOLOGY OCCURRED AT THE HOLLYWOOD ROOSEVELT HOTEL; WHERE HE RESEARCHED, EXPLORED, DISCOVERED, UNCOVERED, AND RESTORED THE ORIGINAL MALIBU TILE WALL FOUNTAIN IN THE BLOSSOM BALLROOM. THE FOUNTAIN WAS THERE IN 1929, WHEN THE FIRST ACADEMY AWARDS WERE PRESENTED, BUT HAD BEEN PLASTERED INTO THE WALL FOR ABOUT 75 YEARS! THIS FOUNTAIN IS THE LAST REMAINING ORIGINAL DECORATIVE ELEMENT OF THE BLOSSOM BALLROOM. EVERYTHING ELSE HAS BEEN DESTROYED OVER THE YEARS THROUGH INCREDIBLY THOUGHTLESS AND INSENSITIVE REMODELING.

AS A SIDE LIGHT, MR. KAISER ALSO HAS A COLLECTION OF 300 ANTIQUE WALKING STICKS; AND OVER 50 GERMAN AND AUSTRIAN IMPERIAL SWORDS. HE ALSO DOES “KITTY RESCUE”, WITH MANY CATS COMING AND GOING ALL THE TIME. THANK GOD FOR TILE FLOORS!