American actor Kevin Bacon started his career at just 17 years old. He began in theater before moving on to TV shows and films. Bacon has delivered many memorable leading performances, earning a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Golden Globe. In 2003, the actor received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He has also directed several of his own films.
In addition to his acting, this famous actor plays 12 musical instruments and formed the band “The Bacon Brothers.” Find out more about his creative journey and personal life on philadelphia-trend.
Family and Education
Kevin Bacon was born on July 8, 1958, in Philadelphia. He was the youngest of six children in a close-knit family. His mother, Ruth, was an elementary school teacher. His father, Edmund, worked in architecture as the executive director of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. He wrote a book called “The Design of Cities,” which is well-known among professionals in the field.
Kevin graduated from a local high school, and at 16, he won a state scholarship to the Governor’s School for the Arts at Bucknell University. The program was a five-week arts immersion course where he studied the fundamentals of theater. This experience was a turning point for him, and he realized he wanted to become an actor.
The Start of Kevin Bacon’s Acting Career
At 17, Kevin Bacon moved to New York City to pursue a career in theater. His film debut came in 1978 in National Lampoon’s Animal House. This first role didn’t bring him the fame he had hoped for, so Bacon continued to work in theater and as a waiter. During this time, he appeared in several TV shows, but his roles were still small.
Throughout the 1980s, Kevin Bacon’s acting career began to gain momentum. In 1980, he appeared in Friday the 13th. In 1982, he received an Obie Award for his role in the play 42nd Street. That same year, he made his Broadway debut, starring alongside a then-unknown Sean Penn. The film Diner was his breakout role, grabbing the attention of audiences and critics alike.
His next major success was the lead role in the 1984 film Footloose. To prepare for the role, he enrolled in a high school to observe and study teenagers’ behavior. The film received rave reviews, but it also typecast Bacon, leading to him being offered similar roles. This, in the actor’s opinion, caused a certain downturn in his career.
Despite this, Bacon continued to act. In 1987, he starred in the comedy Planes, Trains & Automobiles. The following year, he appeared in three films: She’s Having a Baby, Criminal Law, and Lemon Sky.
The next decade marked a significant upswing in his career. Bacon starred in the successful horror-comedy Tremors and played a medical student in Flatliners. In 1991, he starred with Elizabeth Perkins in He Said, She Said, where he played a sexist character. A pivotal role was his part in the film JFK.
During this time, Kevin Bacon began to re-evaluate his pursuit of leading roles and his creative goals. He became more interested in a character’s substance and the chance to embody diverse roles. He also returned to the theater, balancing stage work with roles in films and TV shows.
In 1994, Bacon was nominated for his first Golden Globe for his role in The River Wild, which also starred Meryl Streep. According to the actor, the filming experience was quite exhausting, but he was pleased with the result.
His next film, Murder in the First, earned him an award from the Broadcast Film Critics Association. That same year, 1995, he appeared in the blockbuster Apollo 13. His role in the 1996 film Sleepers also became well-known. His next project was the romantic comedy Picture Perfect.
The early 2000s were a very active period for Kevin Bacon:
- In 2000, he starred in the films Hollow Man, We Married Margo, and My Dog Skip;
- In 2003, he starred alongside Sean Penn and Tim Robbins in the film Mystic River;
- For his role in the 2004 film The Woodsman, he won an Independent Spirit Award;
- In 2005, the comedy film Beauty Shop was released, starring Bacon and Queen Latifah;
- In 2009, he starred in the HBO Films production Taking Chance, for which he won a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor.
In 2010, it was announced that Bacon would be in X-Men: First Class, which was released in 2011. That same year, the comedy film Crazy, Stupid, Love, also starring him, was released.
An interesting project was his role as a lawyer in the play “8,” which dramatized the federal court trial that overturned California’s ban on same-sex marriage. The play was performed at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles and streamed on YouTube to raise money for the American Foundation for Equal Rights.
From 2013 to 2015, Kevin Bacon starred in the FOX series The Following. For this role, he won a Saturn Award for Best Actor in 2013. In 2015, he starred alongside Johnny Depp in the crime film Black Mass. Since then, his filmography has been filled primarily with feature films released every year, allowing fans to enjoy his performances.
Other Creative Pursuits
In 1996, Kevin Bacon made his directorial debut with the film Losing Chase, which received three Golden Globe nominations and won one. In 1998, the actor served as an executive producer for the film Wild Things, in which he also played a supporting role.
Another of Bacon’s passions since his youth is music. He learned to play 12 musical instruments, and in 1995, he formed the band “The Bacon Brothers” with his brother, Michael. The musicians have released seven albums. Bacon also loves to sing and doesn’t miss an opportunity to do so on various television shows and in videos he posts on his social media pages.
In 2012, Kevin Bacon began working in advertising. Since 2015, he has been a commercial spokesperson for the American egg industry.
The Famous Actor’s Personal Life
In the 1980s, Kevin Bacon was in a romantic relationship with actress Tracy Pollan. Their relationship lasted five years before the couple split up.
While filming Lemon Sky, Bacon met actress Kyra Sedgwick. The couple married in 1988 and settled in Manhattan. They have often starred together, for example, in the films Pirates, Murder in the First, The Woodsman, and Loverboy. Bacon and Sedgwick have two children, Travis Sedgwick and Sosie Ruth.
As for his personal beliefs, the actor supports the idea of the separation of church and state. In a 2005 interview with The Times, he said he doesn’t believe in God but is not opposed to religion.
In 2023, Kevin Bacon celebrated his 65th birthday. With half a century of creative work in the film industry behind him, he has no plans to slow down and continues to act actively.
