Kevin Bacon

American actor, director, and musician Kevin Bacon (1958) is best known for the hit musical Footloose (1984). His prolific, increasingly distinguished acting career made him the subject of a trivia game, 'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon', the object of which is to link an actor to Bacon across six films or fewer via shared costars.


German collector card by Bravo.


Spanish postcard in the Colleccíon "Estrellas Cinematográficas" by Cacitel, no. 21, 1990.

A portrayal of male friendship with a nostalgic 1950s Baltimore atmosphere

Kevin Norwood Bacon was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1958. He is the son of Ruth Hilda (Holmes), an elementary school teacher, and Edmund Norwood Bacon, a prominent architect who was on the cover of Time Magazine in November 1964. Kevin's early training as an actor came from the prestigious Julia Reynolds Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School.

When he was 16, he won a full state-funded scholarship in Pennsylvania, but the following year, he moved to New York to become an actor. Following a brief period of training at various drama schools, he made his stage debut at the Circle in the Square Theatre. He later drew initial acclaim co-starring with Keith Gordon in the off-Broadway play 'Album' at the Cherry Lane Theatre.

Bacon made his film debut as the strict Chip Diller in the groundbreaking frat comedy National Lampoon's Animal House (John Landis, 1978) with John Belushi as Bluto. His role now seems like an inside joke, but he managed to escape almost unnoticed. It did not lead to the fame he had sought, and Bacon returned to waiting tables and auditioning for small roles in theatre.

In the Slasher hit Friday the 13th (Sean S. Cunningham, 1980), he played one of the teenage camp counsellors attempting to reopen an abandoned summer camp with a tragic past. He followed it up with television work and less-than-memorable film roles. In 1982, he won an Obie Award for his role in 'Forty Deuce', and soon afterwards he made his Broadway debut in 'Slab Boys', with then-unknowns Sean Penn and Val Kilmer.

The turning point in his film career became the comedy-drama Diner (Barry Levinson, 1982), a portrayal of male friendship with a nostalgic 1950s Baltimore atmosphere. In a cast of soon-to-be stars, including Steve Guttenberg and Mickey Rourke, Bacon held his end up. It gave a glimpse of the real lunatic image of 'The Bacon'.


Spanish postcard by Foto Parjetas, Madrid, no. FC-153-50. Kevin Bacon in Footloose (Herbert Ross, 1984).


British postcard by London Cardguide LTD, London. Photo: Universal Pictures. Meryl Streep, David Strathairn, Kevin Bacon and Joseph Mazzello in The River Wild (Curtis Hanson, 1994).

Smaller roles in 'A' projects with 'A' directors

Kevin Bacon then had a smash with the charming but rather silly and predictable teen musical Footloose (Herbert Ross, 1984). However, he gave a charismatic performance as street-smart but gentle Ren MacCormack, and the song 'Footloose' by Kenny Loggins became a hit.

Bacon showcased an easy charm that became the hallmark of much of his later work, including She's Having a Baby (John Hughes, 1988), the Horror comedy Tremors (Ron Underwood, 1990) with Fred Ward, and Flatliners (Joel Schumacher, 1990), in which he portrayed an earnest medical student experimenting with death.

To counter his image as a teen idol, Bacon performed in theatre productions in New York and took on smaller roles in 'A' projects with 'A' directors like the political thriller JFK (Oliver Stone, 1991). The relatively minor role of a gay prostitute who is a witness in the Garrison trial earned Bacon much critical acclaim and a reputation as an outstanding character actor. He appeared in five films that have been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: JFK (Oliver Stone, 1991), A Few Good Men (Rob Reiner, 1992), starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson, Apollo 13 (Ron Howard, 1995) starring Tom Hanks, Mystic River (Clint Eastwood, 2003) and Frost/Nixon (Ron Howard, 2008).

In 1996, he made his directorial debut with Losing Chase, followed by Loverboy (2005). He also shone in the thriller The River Wild (Curtis Hanson, 1993) with Meryl Streep, the legal crime drama Sleepers (Barry Levinson, 1996), the Horror film Stir of Echoes (David Koepp, 1999) and the Sci-Fi film Hollow Man (Paul Verhoeven, 2000). He was nominated for a Golden Globe for The River Wild (Curtis Hanson, 1993), and was again acclaimed for a dark starring role playing an offending paedophile on parole in The Woodsman (Nicole Kassell, 2004), for which he received the Independent Spirit Award. Bacon received a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his role as Michael Strobl in his TV film Taking Chance (Ross Katz, 2009).

Kevin Bacon met actress Kyra Sedgwick on the set of the drama Lemon Sky (Jan Egleson, 1988). They married and have two children, Travis (1989) and Sosie Bacon (1992). With his brother Michael Bacon, he is part of The Bacon Brothers. The band has released such albums as 'Forosoco' (1997), 'Getting There' (1999) and 'Can't Complain' (2001). Their most recent record was 'Ballad Of The Brothers' (2024). Initially, Bacon was dismayed by the game 'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon', but eventually, he embraced it and formed the charitable initiative SixDegrees.org. This social networking service is intended to link people and charities.


French poster postcard by Sonis, no. C. 1140. Image: Artisan / Mars Film. French poster for Stir of Echoes starring Kevin Bacon (David Koepp, 1999). The French title is Hypnose.


American poster freecard by Piknik. Poster for Telling Lies in America (Guy Ferland, 1997) starring Kevin Bacon and Brad Renfro.

Sources: Everett Munez (Britannica), Elmic (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch, German and English) and IMDb.