Date of Birth

8 July 1958, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Kevin Bacon's early training as an actor came from The Manning Street. His debut as the strict Chip Diller in Animal House (1978) almost seems like an inside joke, but he managed to escape almost unnoticed from that role. Diner (1982) became the turning point after a couple of TV series and a number of less-than-memorable movie roles. In a cast of soon-to-be stars, he more than held his end up, and we saw a glimpse of the real lunatic image of The Bacon. He also starred in Footloose (1984), in She's Having a Baby (1988), in Tremors (1990) with Fred Ward, in Flatliners (1990), and in Apollo 13 (1995).

Attended the prestigious Julia Reynolds Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School in Philadelphia with his brother, Michael.

Inspired a game called "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon", whereby people have to link any given actor to him by no more than six steps. For instance, to do Fred MacMurray, you could observe that MacMurray worked with Lee Marvin in The Caine Mutiny (1954), which is one step; and Marvin worked with Jane Fonda in Cat Ballou (1965), which is two steps; and Fonda worked with Jack Lemmon in The China Syndrome (1979), which is three steps; and Lemmon worked with Bacon in JFK (1991), which completes the link in four steps. Harder versions of the game exist, limiting the player to five, four or even three steps. The original version of this game existed for numerous years and the pivot-person was then Paul Erdös, a mathematician (one's Erdös number measures the number of people a scientist is away from having authored a paper with Dr. Erdös). A very few people, mostly scientists who have appeared in documentaries (such as Carl Sagan), or actors who have also co-authored scientific papers (such as Danica McKellar and Natalie Portman), have both Erdös AND Bacon numbers.

Attended the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts.

He was the first choice for the Charlie Sheen part in Being John Malkovich (1999).

Is part of The Bacon Brothers, with his older brother Michael Bacon. The band has released three albums: "Forosoco" (1997), "Getting There" (1999) and "Can't Complain" (2001).

He sang with brother Michael Bacon (who played guitar) in New York in a small club/coffee shop.

His father was Edmund Bacon, a famous Philadelphia city planner. His mother was Ruth Bacon, a teacher and liberal political activist.

Son, Travis Bacon (born June 23, 1989), with wife Kyra Sedgwick.

Daughter, Sosie Bacon, was born on March 15, 1992, with wife Kyra Sedgwick.

Has never lived in Hollywood or Los Angeles.

The family dog, a mutt, is called Paulie.

Met wife Kyra Sedgwick on the set of Lemon Sky (1988) (TV).

Lives in NY with wife Kyra Sedgwick and their 2 kids.

In preparation for his role in Telling Lies in America (1997), he "hung out" in the radio studio with and based his on-air banter on his friend Jerry Blavat, the celebrated oldies DJ from Philadelphia and an inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; aka the "Geator with the Heater".

Brother-in-law of Robert Sedgwick and Betsy Bacon.

His father was a seventh cousin of President Richard Nixon.

Is a fifth cousin of William Thomas Hamill Jr., married to Virginia Suzanne Johnson, the parents of Mark Hamill.

American-born Canadian actor Philip Nozuka, George Nozuka and Justin Nozuka, are his nephews through his wife, Kyra Sedgwick's side of the family.

His line, "I am a Goddamn genius", is quoted in both Hollow Man (2000) and Trapped (2002).

In Quicksilver (1986) and A Few Good Men (1992), his characters are both nicknamed "Smiling Jack".

Actor Girard Swan worked as his stand-in on the new Ron Howard film Frost/Nixon (2008).

Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Kevin Bacon was the last interview of PARADE's "In Step With..." columnist James Brady, who passed away on January 26, 2009. The interview of Kevin Bacon appeared in the February 15, 2009 issue of PARADE magazine.

Lost an undisclosed amount of money in the Bernard Madoff scandal.

Has a vacation farmhouse in Litchfield Hills, Connecticut.

Uncle of Neal Bacon.

Vacationed with his family in Punta del Este, Uruguay. [December 2009]

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