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1[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kevinbacon_8267.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:320:Don't make fun of his last name or else.]]
3
4->''“Any idiot can get laid when they're famous. That's easy. It's getting laid when you're not famous that takes some talent.”''
5-->-- '''Kevin Bacon'''
6
7Kevin Norwood Bacon (born July 8, 1958 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a name you will hear not because breakfast is being served, but because he has been a film actor since the 1970s. Known for being in a lot of famous films, but seldom the lead role, unfortunately. [[EnsembleDarkhorse This may make him even more famous]].
8
9His first role was in ''Film/AnimalHouse'', as the student who says "Thank you sir, may I have another?" According to an interview on the film's DVD release, he couldn't enter the premiere with his castmates because [[SpearCarrier no one recognized him as a cast member]].
10
11{{Trope Namer|s}} for the Bacon Number phenomenon, a.k.a. SixDegreesOfKevinBacon, a mathematical calculation of a celebrity's closeness to Kevin Bacon. Regarding the popularity of this, he's said that people like to meet him to reduce their "Bacon Number" to one, misunderstanding that they have to be in a movie with him for that. He seems to be a pretty good sport about it, given that he's expressed a fear that his obituary will read "[[NeverLiveItDown Inspired a game]], [[HeAlsoDid also acted]]." He also took the concept and weaponised it for a good cause, creating the charitable foundation [[https://www.sixdegrees.org/ SixDegrees.org]] who've raised over $12 million for various causes since their inception in 2007.
12
13Bacon has been married to Creator/KyraSedgwick, star of ''Series/TheCloser'', since 1988; they have two children, Travis and [[Creator/SosieBacon Sosie]]. In 2011, the pair learned through a genealogy show that they are actually ninth cousins, once removed.
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15He's also a singer, being part of "The Bacon Brothers" duo with his brother Michael since 1995. They have released six albums.
16
17[[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014 He is also Earth's greatest hero.]]
18
19----
20!!Some of the films he has appeared in include:
21
22* ''Film/AnimalHouse'' (1978) as Chip Diller
23* ''Film/HeroAtLarge'' (1980) as 2nd Teenager
24* ''Film/{{Friday The 13th|1980}}'' (1980) as Jack Burrell
25* ''Film/{{Diner}}'' (1982) as Timothy Fenwick Jr.
26* ''Film/{{Footloose}}'' (1984) as Ren [=McCormack=]
27* ''Film/PlanesTrainsAndAutomobiles'' (1987) as Taxi Racer (cameo)
28* ''Film/TheBigPicture'' (1989) as Nick Chapman
29* ''Film/{{Tremors}}'' (1990) as Val [=McKee=]
30* ''Film/{{Flatliners}}'' (1990) as David Labraccio
31* ''Film/QueensLogic'' (1991) as Dennis
32* ''Film/HeSaidSheSaid'' (1991) as Dan Hanson
33* ''Film/{{JFK}}'' (1991) as Willie O'Keefe
34* ''Film/AFewGoodMen'' (1992) as Capt. Jack Ross
35* ''Film/TheAirUpThere'' (1994) as Jimmy Dolan
36* ''Film/TheRiverWild'' (1994) as Wade
37* ''Film/MurderInTheFirst'' (1995) as Henri Young
38* ''Film/{{Apollo 13}}'' (1995) as Jack Swigert
39* ''WesternAnimation/{{Balto}}'' (1995) as Balto (voice)
40* ''Film/{{Sleepers}}'' (1996) as Sean Nokes
41* ''Film/WildThings'' (1998) as Sgt. Ray Duquette
42* ''Film/StirOfEchoes'' (1999) as Tom Witzky
43* ''Film/MyDogSkip'' (2000) as Jack Morris
44* ''Film/HollowMan'' (2000) as Sebastian Caine
45* ''Film/{{Novocaine}}'' (2001) as Lance Phelps (uncredited cameo)
46* ''Film/MysticRiver'' (2003) as Sean Devine
47* ''Film/InTheCut'' (2003) as John Graham
48* ''Film/TheWoodsman'' (2004) as Walter
49* ''[[Film/Loverboy2005 Loverboy]]'' (2005) as Marty Stoll
50* ''Film/BeautyShop'' (2005) as Jorge Christophe
51* ''Film/WhereTheTruthLies'' (2005) as Lanny Morris
52* ''Film/DeathSentence'' (2007) as Nick Hume
53* ''Film/TheAirIBreathe'' (2008) as Love
54* ''Film/FrostNixon'' (2008) as Jack Brennan
55* ''Film/{{Super}}'' (2010) as Jacques
56* ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' (2011) as Sebastian Shaw
57* ''Film/CrazyStupidLove'' (2011) as David Lindhagen
58* ''Film/{{RIPD}}'' (2013) as Bobby Hayes
59* ''Film/CopCar'' (2015) as Sheriff Kretzer (also executive producer)
60* ''Film/BlackMass'' (2015) as Charles [=McGuire=]
61* ''Film/PatriotsDay'' (2016) as [=Richard DesLauriers=]
62* ''Film/TourDePharmacy'' (2017) as Ditmer Klerken
63* ''Film/YouShouldHaveLeft'' (2020) as Theo Conroy
64* ''[[Film/TheyThem2022 They/Them]]'' (2022) as Owen Whistler (also executive producer)
65* ''Film/LeaveTheWorldBehind'' (2023) as Charlie
66
67!As Himself
68* ''Series/FindingYourRoots''
69* ''Film/TheGuardiansOfTheGalaxyHolidaySpecial''
70----
71!!Tropes associated with this actor:
72%%No, seriously. Don't put "Everythings Better With Bacon" here. It's not an example.
73* CloudCuckoolander: Just peep this meta [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP5QZNhGsF4 Logitech commercial]] where he plays a rabid Kevin Bacon fan. Hearing him imitate his own accent from ''Tremors'' is something to behold.
74** His ''Creator/FunnyOrDie'' sketch: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qZY1zHrqx8&feature=related YOU JUST GOT BACOOOOOOON'D!!!!]]"
75* IAmNotLeonardNimoy: A rare case where both are averted. He's had some famous parts but none of them have been so iconic that it eclipsed the man's career, and likewise he plays so many types of characters so well that you buy him in each part and don't just see Kevin Bacon. However, on the DVD commentary for ''Film/{{Footloose}}'', Bacon notes that when attending weddings or other DJ'd social events, he'd have to slip the DJ $20 to avoid having to dance for the partygoers and becoming a one-man SpotlightStealingSquad.
76** He's also shown to be a good sport about it, however, as demonstrated in the above sketches as well as in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T2FpCDlyNg this]] appearance on ''Series/TheTonightShow''.
77* MaleFrontalNudity: In ''Film/WildThings''. He apparently jokes that he loves doing this, and that he has a clause in all film contracts requiring at least one scene, but that the studios remove it in post production. He also apparently wants to play a naked wizard on Game of Thrones, as seen ''[[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/KevinBacon?from=Main.KevinBacon here]]''
78* MoneyDearBoy: He started working a lot more frequently, even taking on TV roles, after losing all his money to Bernie Madoff's {{Ponzi}} scheme.
79* OldShame: The first ''Film/{{Tremors}}'' movie ''was'' this at first. (Before the film's release, Bacon had a public breakdown in which he ranted to anyone who approached that his career was over because he was starring in a "stupid movie about killer worms".) He's since lost this attitude[[note]]in a 2015 interview he admitted he'd actually love to return to the character[[/note]], especially given that ''Tremors'' is now seen as something of a classic (and has an 89% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes), but it was his embarrassment at being in a "stupid worm movie" that kept him out of any of the sequels.
80* OneDegreeOfSeparation: As mentioned, the Bacon Number phenomenon, a.k.a. SixDegreesOfKevinBacon. Bacon is a prolific actor and can be connected to a large number of other celebrities by at most six degrees of separation (Bacon starred in a movie with X, X starred in a movie with Y, Y starred in a movie with Z, etc).
81* PlayingAgainstType: Has played so many different archetypes that his exact performer persona is difficult to pinpoint. He's done everything from [[LargeHam hamming]] in light-hearted comedies (''Beauty Shop'') to going to dark places few actors can go (''Film/TheWoodsman'').
82* RomanceOnTheSet: Met his wife Creator/KyraSedgwick on the set of the 1988 film ''Lemon Sky'' and she says that he was so obviously attracted to her and unsubtle about wooing her that she agreed to go out with him almost out of pity.
83* SixDegreesOfKevinBacon: The trope namer, for the OneDegreeOfSeparation game.

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