Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon

Kevin Bacon’s full name is Kevin Norwood Bacon and he was born on July 8, 1958. Kevin Bacon was one of six children born to Ruth Hilda and Edmund Bacon. When he was 16, Kevin Bacon got a full scholarship to the Pennsylvania Governors School for the Arts, at Bucknell University. He attended this state-funded five-week arts program where he studied Theatre under Dr. Glory Van Scott. This American film and theater actor has had a versatile career and been in a number of films. The roles he is most well known for are Animal House, Diner, Footloose, Flatliners, A Few Good Men, Apollo 13, Mystic River, The Woodsman, Friday the 13th, Hollow Man, Tremors and Frost/Nixon. Though Kevin Bacon has won numerous awards such as Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards and been was nominated for an Emmy, he has never won a Oscar. In fact he has been named by The Guardian as one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination. But lack of recognition from the Academy Award committee did not prevent Bacon from getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003.

Bacon has been so prolific in his career that he has inspired a trivia game called Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. The game is based on the idea that any Hollywood actor can be linked to another in a handful of steps based on their associations with Bacon. Though this may seem somewhat far out and unlikely, if you see Kevin Bacon’s movie list you will not be surprised. In 1978, Kevin Bacon acted in National Lampoon’s ‘Animal House’ as Chip Diller. In 1979 he acted in ‘Starting Over’ and ‘The Gift.’ In 1980 Kevin Bacon acted in ‘Hero at Large’ and cult movie ‘Friday the 13th. In 1981 it was in ‘Only When I Laugh’ and in ‘Diner’ and ‘Forty Deuce’ the following year. In 1983 Kevin Bacon played Dennis in ‘Enormous Changes at the Last Minute’. In 1984 Kevin Bacon had his big hit ‘Footloose’ followed by the 1986 ‘Quicksilver’. In 1987 Kevin Bacon acted in ‘White Water Summer’, ‘End of the Line’ and ‘Planes, Trains & Automobiles’. This was followed the next year by ‘She’s Having a Baby’ and ‘Criminal Law’ the following year. Kevin Bacon as also in 1989s ‘The Big Picture’ and in Tremors and Flatliners in 1990. Other famous films that Kevin Bacon has been in include Taking Chance (2009) and ‘The River Wild’.