Birthdate: July 8, 1958
Birthplace: Philadelphia, PA
Occupations: Actor, Director, Musician
Quote: "I was tired of making movies nobody was seeing. It was hurting my feelings. It was hurting my career. So I started looking for things that people will see." - USA Today, January 20, 1995
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Claim to Fame: Starred as dancing rebel Ren in the popular musical feature Footloose (1984)
Significant Other(s):
Wife: Kyra Sedgwick, actress; married September 1988
Family:
Father: Edmund Bacon, city planner
Mother: Ruth Bacon, teacher, liberal political activist, Park Avenue debutante; deceased
Brother: Michael Bacon, musician
Son: Travis Bacon; born 1989; mother, Kyra Sedgwick
Daughter: Sosie Ruth Bacon; born March 1992; mother Kyra Sedgwick
Biography
A capable character player of Hollywood films since the mid-1980s, Bacon has convincingly embodied an impressive array of characters without resorting to cliche. He demonstrated his versatility as the quirky boy-next-door in "Footloose" (1984); an adventurous medical student with a guilty conscience in "Flatliners" (1990); and a no-nonsense Marine attorney in "A Few Good Men" (1992). Bacon began his career on the New York stage before segueing to features with a small part in "National Lampoon's Animal House" (1978) and gained more attention as the confused rich kid with a drinking problem in "Diner" (1981).
Bacon has alternated between the stage and screen, proving equally adept at comedy and drama. He was memorable as the overwrought yuppie dad in the contemporary comedy, "She's Having a Baby" (1988), a cold-blooded killer in "Criminal Law" (1988), the young filmmaker in the underrated satire, "The Big Picture" (1989) and the gay hustler in Oliver Stone's "JFK" (1991).
The mid-90s found Bacon reassessing his career priorities and wisely passing on leading roles in mediocre films in favor of character parts in more ambitious projects. Co-starring with Meryl Streep in "The River Wild" (1994), he offered a beguiling but sinister stranger who pushes a troubled family to their emotional and physical limits. Bacon sizzled in another showy role as a tortured Alcatraz inmate in the historical courtroom drama "Murder in the First" (1995). Moving into production, he made his directorial debut with 1996's made-for-cable "Losing Chase" (which also received a theatrical release) and served as producer on the laughable thriller "Wild Things" (1998, in which he also appeared as a detective).
Filmography
Novocaine (2001)
My Dog Skip (2000)
Hollow Man (2000)
Solo Shuttle (1999)
Stir of Echoes (1999)
Digging To China (1998)
Wild Things (1998)
Picture Perfect (1997)
Telling Lies In America (1997)
The Directors: Ron Howard (1997)
Balto (1996)
Losing Chase (1996)
Sleepers (1996)
Murder in the First (1995)
Apollo 13 (1995)
The River Wild (1994)
The Air up There (1993)
A Few Good Men (1992)
He Said, She Said (1991)
JFK (1991)
Pyrates (1991)
Queens Logic (1991)
Flatliners (1990)
The Big Picture (1989)
Criminal Law (1989)
Tremors (1989)
End of the Line (1988)
She's Having a Baby (1988)
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
White Water Summer (1987)
Lemon Sky (1987)
Quicksilver (1986)
Footloose (1984)
Enormous Changes at the Last Minute (1983)
The Demon Murder Case (1983)
Diner (1982)
Forty Deuce (1982)
Only When I Laugh (1981)
Friday the 13th (1980)
Hero at Large (1980)
Starting Over (1979)
The Gift (1979)
National Lampoon's Animal House (1978)
Awards:
1982: Obie: Performance, Forty Deuce and Poor Little Lambs
1995: Broadcast Film Critics Association: Best Actor, Murder in the First
1995: Screen Actors Guild: Outstanding Ensemble Performance in a Motion Picture, Apollo 13
Factoids:
Bacon is the center of the game called "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon"; he wrote the foreword to the accompanying book
Formed band, The Bacon Brothers, with Michael; formerly the Philadelphia-based folk-rock band Good News
Education:
Manning Street Actors Theater; Philadelphia, PA
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