Bacon, Kevin 1958–

(the Bacon Brothers)

PERSONAL

Born July 8, 1958, in Philadelphia, PA; son of Edmund (a city planner) and Ruth (an educator and political activist; maiden name, Holmes) Bacon; brother of Michael Bacon (a musician); married first wife (marriage ended); married Kyra Sedgwick (an actress and producer), September 3, 1988; children: (second marriage) Travis, Sosie Ruth. Education: Trained for the stage at Manning Street Actors Theatre, Philadelphia, PA, and as an apprentice at Circle in the Square Theatre School, 1976–77.

Addresses: Agent—Michelle Stern-Bohan, Endeavor, 9601 Wilshire Blvd., Sixth Floor, Beverly Hills, CA 90212. Manager—Stacy Boniello, The Firm, 9465 Wilshire Blvd., Sixth Floor, Beverly Hills, CA 90212. Publicist—PMK/HBH Public Relations, 700 San Vicente Blvd., Suite G910, West Hollywood, CA 90069 (some sources cite 8500 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 700, Beverly Hills, CA 90211).

Career: Actor, producer, director, and musician. Mixed Breed Films, principal; the Bacon Brothers (musical group), musician and performer at various venues and events, including Town Hall, New York City, 2000, the Rising Sun Festival, Indian Lookout Country Club, Pattersonville, NY, 2003, and the Fash Bash, Detroit, MI; also a performer in benefits for various causes. As member of the Bacon Brothers, was a panelist at the Music for Film Panel, Woodstock Film Festival, Woodstock, NY, 2005, and a judge for the John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Appeared in commercials and public service announcements. Host and narrator of the flight simulation tourist attraction NYSKYRIDE (also known as New York Skyride), beginning 1994. Affiliated with Forosoco Music. Worked as a waiter and in a warehouse.

Member: Screen Actors Guild.

Awards, Honors: Obie Award, best performance, Village Voice, c. 1982, for Forty-Deuce and Poor Little Lambs; Golden Globe Award nomination, best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a motion picture, 1995, for The River Wild; Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, best actor, 1996, Screen Actors Guild Award nomination, outstanding performance by a male actor in a supporting role, 1996, and London Critics Circle Award nomination, supporting actor of the year, 1998, all for Murder in the First; Bronze Gryphon, best actor, Giffoni Film Festival, 1997, for Digging to China; Young Friends of Film Honors, Film Society of Lincoln Center, 2000; Blockbuster Entertainment Award, favorite actor—science fiction, and MTV Movie Award nomination, best villain, both 2001, for Hollow Man; Video Man of the Year Award, Video Software Dealers Association, 2001, for body of work; received a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, 2003; Boston Society of Film Critics Award (with others), best ensemble cast, 2003, and Screen Actors Guild Award nomination (with others), outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture, 2004, both for Mystic River; John Cassavetes Award, Denver International Film Festival, 2004; Special Mention, Flanders International Film Festival, 2004, Independent Spirit Award nomination, best male lead, Independent Features Project/West, Golden Satellite Award nomination, best actor in a motion picture drama, International Press Academy, and Chlotrudis Award nomination, best actor, all 2005, all for The Woodsman; Teen Choice Award nomination, choice movie sleazebag, 2005, for Beauty Shop;Copper Wing Tribute Award, Phoenix Film Festival, 2005; Ray-Ban Visionary Award, Creative Coalition, 2005. Subject of the game "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon."

CREDITS

Film Appearances:

Chip Diller, Animal House (also known as National Lampoon's "Animal House"), Universal, 1978.

Young husband, Starting Over, Paramount, 1979.

Jack Burrell (camp counselor), Friday the 13th (also known as A Long Night at Camp Blood), Paramount, 1980.

Second teenager, Hero at Large, United Artists, 1980.

Don, Only When I Laugh (also known as It Hurts Only When I Laugh and Neil Simon's "Only When I Laugh"), Columbia, 1981.

Rickey, Forty-Deuce, Island Pictures, 1981.

Timothy Fenwick, Jr., Diner, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists, 1982.

Ren MacCormack, Footloose, Paramount, 1984.

Jack Casey, Quicksilver, Columbia, 1986.

Taxi racer, Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Paramount, 1987.

Vic, White Water Summer (also known as The Rites of Summer and Whitewater Summer), Columbia, 1987.

Everett, End of the Line, Orion, 1988.

Jefferson Edward "Jake" Briggs, She's Having a Baby, Paramount, 1988.

Martin Thiel, Criminal Law, TriStar, 1989.

Nick Chapman, The Big Picture, Columbia, 1989.

David Labraccio, Flatliners (also known as L'experience interdite, Linea mortale, and Morte imminente), Columbia, 1990.

Valentine McKee, Tremors (also known as Beneath Perfection), Universal, 1990.

Dan Hanson, He Said, She Said, Paramount, 1991.

Dennis, Queens Logic, Seven Arts Pictures, 1991.

Narrator, A Little Vicious (short documentary), The Doc Tank, 1991.

Sam (some sources cite Ari), Pyrates, Seven Arts Pictures/New Line Cinema, 1991.

Willie O'Keefe, JFK, Warner Bros., 1991.

Marine captain Jack Ross (prosecutor), A Few Good Men, Columbia, 1992.

Jimmy Dolan, The Air Up There, Buena Vista, 1994.

Wade, The River Wild, Universal, 1994.

Henri Young, Murder in the First (also known as Muertre a Alcatraz), Warner Bros., 1995.

John L. "Jack" Swigart, Apollo 13, Universal, 1995, IMAX version released as Apollo 13: The IMAX Experience.

Voice of title role, Balto (animated), Universal, 1995.

Sean Nokes, Sleepers, Warner Bros., 1996.

Duane (Billy Magic), Telling Lies in America, Banner Entertainment, 1997.

Ricky Schroth (some sources cite Ricky Troth), Digging to China, Legacy Releasing, 1997.

Sam Mayfair, Picture Perfect, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1997.

Sergeant Ray Duquette, Wild Things (also known as wildthings), Columbia, 1998.

Tom Witzky, Stir of Echoes, Artisan Entertainment, 1999.

Jack Morris, My Dog Skip, Warner Bros., 2000.

Himself, We Married Margo, KOAN, 2000.

(Uncredited) Lance Phelps, Novocaine, Artisan Entertainment, 2000.

Sebastian Caine, Hollow Man (also known as Hollow Man—Unsichtbare Gefahr), Columbia, 2000.

Joe Hickey, Trapped (also known as 24 Stunden Angst), Columbia, 2002.

(Uncredited) John Graham, In the Cut, Screen Gems, 2003.

Sean Devine, Mystic River, Warner Bros., 2003.

Himself, Film Trix 2004 (short documentary), Cornukopia Entertainment, 2004.

Narrator, Natural Disasters: Forces of Nature (short documentary), Destination Cinema, 2004.

Walter, The Woodsman, Newmarket Films, 2004.

Jorge, Beauty Shop, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists, 2005.

Lanny Morris, Where the Truth Lies, ThinkFilm, 2005.

Marty Stoll, Loverboy, Millennium Films, 2005.

Brent, Saving Angelo, Bigel/Mailer Films, 2006.

Love, The Air I Breathe, Inferno Distribution, 2006.

Film Work:

Executive producer, Wild Things (also known as wildthings), Columbia, 1998.

Executive producer, The Woodsman, Newmarket Films, 2004.

Director and producer, Loverboy, Millennium Films, 2005.

Producer, The 1 Second Film (animated short documentary), Cinespire Entertainment, 2006.

Television Appearances; Series:

Todd Adamson, Search for Tomorrow, NBC, 1979.

Tim "T. J." Werner, Guiding Light, CBS, 1980–81.

Television Appearances; Miniseries:

Host, 100 Greatest Artists of Rock & Roll, 1998.

Himself, 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons, VH1, 2003.

(In archive footage) Himself, Retrosexual: The 80s, VH1, 2004.

Television Appearances; Movies:

Teddy, The Gift, CBS, 1979.

Dennis, Enormous Changes at the Last Minute (also known as Enormous Changes and Trumps), PBS, 1982.

Kenny Miller, The Demon Murder Case (also known as The Rhode Island Murders), NBC, 1983.

Mike, Destination Anywhere (also known as Midnight in Chelsea), VH1, 1997.

(Uncredited; in archive footage) Himself, Live from Baghdad, HBO, 2002.

Randall Pritchard, Cavedweller, Showtime, 2004.

Himself, The Magic 7 (animated), c. 2006.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Ensign Frank Pulver, Mister Roberts, NBC, 1984.

(Uncredited) Probation officer, "The Little Sister" (also known as "Forbidden" and "The Tender Age"), American Playhouse, PBS, 1985.

Alan, "Lemon Sky," American Playhouse, PBS, 1987.

Sinatra 75: The Best Is Yet to Come (also known as Frank Sinatra: 75th Birthday Celebration), CBS, 1990.

Himself, Oliver Stone: Inside Out (also known as Oliver Stone), Showtime, 1992.

The Making of Apollo 13, Sci-Fi Channel, 1995.

Song performer, Happy Birthday Elizabeth—A Celebration of Life, ABC, 1997.

(In archive footage; uncredited) Himself, Seventeen: The Faces for Fall, The WB, 1998.

Himself, The AFI's 100 Years … 100 Stars, CBS, 1999.

(In archive footage) Vanilla Ice, Saturday Night Live: 25th Anniversary (also known as Saturday Night Live: 25th Anniversary Primetime Special), NBC, 1999.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, NBC, 1999.

Weddings of a Lifetime, Lifetime, 1999.

Men Strike Back, VH1, 2000.

Himself, Behind the Movies: Animal House, NBC, 2001.

Christmas in Rockefeller Center, NBC, 2001.

(As the Bacon Brothers) Himself, Broadway's Best, Bravo, 2002.

Himself, Elvis Lives, NBC, 2002.

Himself, Imagine New York, Fox, 2003.

Himself, Unseen + Untold: National Lampoon's "Animal House," Spike TV, 2003.

Guest, Introducing Graham Norton, Comedy Central, 2004.

Some sources cite an appearance as the Bacon Brothers in The Gift of Song, TNT, 1997.

Television Appearances; Awards Presentations:

Presenter, The 56th Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1984.

Presenter, The 53rd Annual Golden Globe Awards, NBC, 1996.

Presenter, The 13th Annual MTV Video Music Awards, MTV, 1996.

Himself, The VH1 '97 Fashion Awards, VH1, 1997.

Presenter, The 54th Annual Golden Globe Awards, NBC, 1997.

Presenter, The 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, MTV, 1997.

Presenter, The 19th Annual CableACE Awards, TNT, 1997.

Presenter, The 39th Annual Grammy Awards, CBS, 1997.

Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, UPN, 1998.

An All-Star Tribute to Johnny Cash, TNT, 1999.

Presenter, The Sixth Annual Blockbuster Entertainment Awards (also known as 2000 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards), Fox, 2000.

VH1 Big in 2002 Awards, VH1, 2002.

Himself, IFP Gotham Awards 2004, Independent Film Channel, 2004.

Presenter, Tribeca Film Festival Awards, 2004.

Presenter, The 2004 IFP/West Independent Spirit Awards, Independent Film Channel, 2004.

Presenter, The 47th Annual Grammy Awards, CBS, 2005.

Presenter, The 20th IFP Independent Spirit Awards, Independent Film Channel and Bravo, 2005.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

Host, Saturday Night Live (also known as NBC's "Saturday Night," Saturday Night, and SNL), NBC, 1991.

Guest caller Vic, "Adventures in Paradise: Part 2," Frasier (also known as Dr. Frasier Crane), NBC, 1994.

Himself, "Outbreak," Mad about You (also known as Loved by You), NBC, 1996.

"Tom Hanks: Hollywood's Golden Boy," Biography (also known as A & E Biography: Tom Hanks), Arts and Entertainment, 1997.

Narrator, Joe Eszterhas: The E! True Hollywood Story, E! Entertainment Television, 1999.

Host, "Best Band of the '70s," The List, VH1, c. 1999.

Host, "Patti Labelle: Surviving with Soul," Biography (also known as A & E Biography: Patti Labelle), Arts and Entertainment, 2001.

Host, "Ted Nugent: The Motor City Madman," Biography (also known as A & E Biography: Ted Nugent), Arts and Entertainment, 2001.

Himself, "Jon Bon Jovi," Bravo Profiles (also known as Bravo Profiles: Inside the Creative Mind), Bravo, 2001.

Narrator, "Graham Nash," Biography (also known as A & E Biography: Graham Nash), Arts and Entertainment, 2001.

Himself, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, ABC, 2001.

Himself, "Bacon and Eggs," Will & Grace, NBC, 2002.

Himself, "Kevin Bacon: Am I Me?," Biography (also known as A & E Biography: Kevin Bacon), Arts and Entertainment, 2002.

Voice of himself, "Bob Gets Involved," God, the Devil, and Bob (animated), NBC, 2003.

Himself, "Make Star's Brother a Star: Michael B.," Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (also known as Queer Eye), Bravo, 2006.

Television Guest Appearances; Episodic:

Good Morning America (also known as GMA), ABC, 1983, 2005.

Showbiz Today, Cable News Network, 1995.

Howard Stern, E! Entertainment Television, 1996, multiple episodes in 1997.

"The Films of Rob Reiner" (also known as "Rob Reiner"), The Directors (also known as The Directors—Rob Reiner), Encore, c. 1997.

The Rosie O'Donnell Show, syndicated, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002.

Late Night with Conan O'Brien, NBC, 1997, 1998, 2003.

"The Films of Ron Howard," The Directors, Encore, 2000.

"Hollow Man," HBO First Look, HBO, 2000.

"Horror Movies," Dennis Miller Live, HBO, 2000.

The Howard Stern Radio Show, 2000.

The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn (also known as The Late Late Show), CBS, 2001.

Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show (also known as Ellen and The Ellen DeGeneres Show), syndicated, 2003.

The Wayne Brady Show, syndicated, 2003, 2004.

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, NBC, 2003, 2005.

Breakfast with the Arts, Arts and Entertainment, 2004.

On-Air with Ryan Seacrest, syndicated, 2004.

(As the Bacon Brothers) The Sharon Osbourne Show (also known as Sharon), syndicated, 2004.

"Cannes 2005 Special," Comme au cinema, 2005.

Breakfast, BBC, 2005.

The Film Programme (also known as Film '05), BBC, 2005.

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (also known as The Late Late Show), CBS, 2005.

Le grand journal de Canal+, Canal+, 2005.

Live with Regis and Kelly, syndicated, 2005.

Magacine, 2005.

The Oprah Winfrey Show (also known as Oprah), syndicated, 2005.

Richard & Judy, Channel 4 (England), 2005.

(With the Bacon Brothers) The Tony Danza Show, syndicated, 2005.

Television Director; Movies:

Losing Chase, Showtime, 1996.

Stage Appearances:

Ronnie, Getting Out, Marymount Manhattan Theatre, New York City, 1978, then Theatre de Lys (now Lucille Lortel Theatre), New York City, 1979–80.

Glad Tidyings, New York City production, then Actors Theatre of Louisville, Louisville, KY, 1979–80.

Mary Barnes, Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, CT, 1980.

Billy, Album, Workshop of the Players Art (WPA) Theatre Company, Cherry Lane Theatre, New York City, 1980–81.

Ricky, Forty-Deuce, Perry Street Theatre, New York City, 1981.

Frank Wozniak, Poor Little Lambs, Theatre at St. Peter's Church (now York Theatre at St. Peter's), New York City, 1982.

Michael, Flux, Second Stage Theatre, McGinn-Cazale Theatre, New York City, 1982.

Phil McCann, Slab Boys, Playhouse Theatre, New York City, 1983.

Murph, Men without Dates, New York City, 1985.

Dennis, Loot, Manhattan Theatre Club Stage I, then Music Box Theatre, both New York City, 1986.

Todd, The Author's Voice, Ensemble Studio Theatre, New York City, 1987.

Louise's brother, Brink, and Joey, Road, La Mama Experimental Theatre Club Annex, New York City, 1988.

Edward, Spike Heels, Second Stage Theatre, McGinn-Cazale Theatre, New York City, 1992.

Craig Donner, Hiram Keeble, and examining doctor, The Normal Heart (staged reading), Roundabout Theatre, New York City, 1993.

Samuel Gentle, An Almost Holy Picture (solo show), Roundabout Theatre Company, American Airlines Theatre, New York City, 2002.

Lysistrata (reading), The Lysistrata Project, Harvey Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, New York City, 2003.

Radio Appearances:

The Howard Stern Radio Show, 1996, multiple episodes in 1997, 2000.

RECORDINGS

Videos:

Himself, Lost Moon: The Triumph of Apollo 13, MCA/Universal Home Video, 1996.

Himself, The Yearbook: An "Animal House" Reunion, Universal Studios Home Video, 1998.

Himself, Diner: On the Flip Side, Warner Home Video, 2000.

Himself, Fleshing out the "Hollow Man," Columbia/TriStar Home Video, 2000.

Himself, Hollow Man: Anatomy of a Thriller, Columbia/TriStar Home Video, 2000.

Himself, Code of Conduct (short documentary), 2001.

(As the Bacon Brothers) The Bacon Brothers Live: No Food Jokes Tour (companion to the album The Bacon Brothers Live; also known as The Bacon Brothers Live), Image Entertainment, 2003.

Himself, Mystic River: From Page to Screen (short documentary), 2003.

Voice of Reverend Chip Diller, Where Are They Now? A Delta Alumni Update (short), Universal, 2003.

Himself, Mystic River: Beneath the Surface, Warner Home Video, 2004.

Albums with Michael Bacon as the Bacon Brothers:

Forosoco, Bluxo Records, 1998.

Getting There, Bluxo Records, 1999.

Can't Complain, Rounder Records, 2001.

The Bacon Brothers Live (also known as The Bacon Brothers Live: No Food Jokes Tour), Image Entertainment, 2003.

White Knuckles, Forosoco Music/SpinArt, c. 2005.

Singles with Michael Bacon as the Bacon Brothers:

"Boys in Bars," 1998.

Music Videos:

Kenny Loggins, "Footloose," 1984.

Bonnie Tyler, "Holding out for a Hero," 1984.

Deniece Williams, "Let's Hear It for the Boy," 1984.

The Bacon Brothers, "Boys in Bars," 1998.

Music Video Director:

The Bacon Brothers, "Boys in Bars," 1998.

WRITINGS

Film Music:

Song "Medium Rare," Telling Lies in America, Banner Entertainment, 1997.

Score, Solo Shuttle, c. 1997.

Video Music with Michael Bacon as the Bacon Brothers:

(As the Bacon Brothers) The Bacon Brothers Live: No Food Jokes Tour (companion to the album The Bacon Brothers Live; also known as The Bacon Brothers Live), Image Entertainment, 2003.

Albums with Michael Bacon as the Bacon Brothers:

Forosoco, Bluxo Records, 1998.

Getting There, Bluxo Records, 1999.

Can't Complain, Rounder Records, 2001.

The Bacon Brothers Live (also known as The Bacon Brothers Live: No Food Jokes Tour), Image Entertainment, 2003.

White Knuckles, Forosoco Music/SpinArt, c. 2005.

Singles with Michael Bacon as the Bacon Brothers:

"Boys in Bars," 1998.

Nonfiction:

(Author of foreword) Craig Fass, Mike Ginelli, and Brian Turtle, Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, Plume Books, 1996.

Contributor to periodicals, including Entertainment Weekly.

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, Volume 3: Actors and Actresses, fourth edition, St. James Press, 2000.

Periodicals:

Billboard, January 13, 2001, p. 77.

Cosmopolitan, September, 1994, p. 178.

Empire, December, 1990, p. 46; Issue 79, 1996, p. 59; June, 2000, pp. 84-85, 89.

Entertainment Weekly, January 27, 1995, p. 26; August 4, 2000, pp. 31-39; August 11, 2000, pp. 31-37; December 24, 2004, pp. 38-41.

Film Review, March, 1995.

Interview, October, 1994, p. 90; December, 2004, pp. 154-57.

Los Angeles Times, September 11, 1999; December 21, 2004.

Movieline, December, 1992.

Newsweek, January 17, 2005, p. 70.

New York Times, September 25, 1994; February 3, 2002.

Ocean Drive, summer, 1999, pp. 232-34.

Parade, August 25, 2002, pp. 4-5.

People Weekly, April 2, 1984.

Premiere, March, 1995, pp. 70-73; February, 2005, p. 52.

Time Out, November 29, 1995.

USA Today, January 20, 1995.

USA Weekend, July 28, 2000, p. 10.

US Weekly, August 14, 2000, pp. 74-77.

BACON, Kevin

Nationality: American. Born: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 8 July 1958. Education: Studied at Circle in the Square Theatre School; Manning Street Actor's Theatre. Family: Married the actress Kyra Sedgwick, son: Travis, and daughter: Sosie Ruth. Career: Appeared in daytime TV series Search for Tomorrow and The Guiding Light; 1978—off-Broadway debut in Getting Out; film debut in National Lampoon's Animal House; 1983—Broadway debut in Slab Boys; 1984—appeared in live TV special Mr. Roberts, as Ensign Pulver; 1996—film directorial debut with Losing Chase (for Showtime). Awards: Obie Award for Distinguished Performance, for Forty Deuce, 1981; Best Actor, Broadcast Critics Association, for Murder in the First, 1995. Agent: Creative Artists Agency, 9830 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90212, U.S.A.

Films as Actor:

1978

National Lampoon's Animal House (Landis) (as Chip Diller)

1979

Starting Over (Pakula); The Gift (Don Taylor—for TV) (as Teddy)

1980

Hero at Large (Davidson) (as 2nd teenager); Friday the 13th (Cunningham) (as Jack)

1981

Only When I Laugh (It Hurts Only When I Laugh) (Glenn Jordan) (as Don)

1982

Forty Deuce (Morrissey) (as Rickey); Diner (Levinson) (as Fenwick)

1983

The Demon Murder Case (The Rhode Island Murders) (Hale—for TV) (as Kenny Miller); "Alexandra's Story" ep. of Enormous Changes at the Last Minute (Trumps) (Bank—for TV, re-released theatrically in 1985) (as Dennis)

1984

Footloose (Ross) (as Ren MacCormack)

1986

Quicksilver (Donnelly) (as Jack Casey)

1987

White Water Summer (Rites of Summer) (Bleckner) (as Vic); Planes, Trains and Automobiles (Hughes) (as Taxi Racer); Lemon Sky (Egleson—for TV) (as Alan)

1988

End of the Line (Jay Russell) (as Everett); She's Having a Baby (Hughes) (as Jefferson "Jake" Briggs)

1989

Criminal Law (Campbell) (as Martin Thiel); The Big Picture (Christopher Guest) (as Nick Chapman)

1990

Tremors (Underwood) (as Valentine McKee); Flatliners (Schumacher) (as David Labraccio)

1991

Queens Logic (Rash) (as Dennis); He Said, She Said (Kwapis and Marisa Silver) (as Dan Hanson); Pyrates (Noah Stern—released direct to video) (as Sam); JFK (Oliver Stone) (as Willie O'Keefe)

1992

A Few Good Men (Rob Reiner) (as Capt. Jack Ross)

1994

The Air Up There (Glaser) (as Jimmy Dolan); The River Wild (Hanson) (as Wade)

1995

Murder in the First (Rocco) (as Henri Young); Apollo 13 (Ron Howard) (as Jack Swigert); Balto (Wells—animation) (as voice of Balto)

1996

Sleepers (Levinson) (as Nokes)

1997

Picture Perfect (Gordon) (as Sam Mayfair); Telling Lies in America (Ferland) (as Billy Magic)

1998

Wild Things (McNaughton) (as Ray Duquette) (+ exec pr)

1999

Stir of Echoes (Koepp) (as Tom Witzky); My Dog Skip (Russell) (as Jack Morris)

2000

Hollow Man (Verhoeven) (as Sebastian Caine); We Married Margo (Shapiro) (as himself); Novocaine (Atkins)

Film as Director:

1996 Losing Chase (for TV)

Publications

By BACON: articles—

"Totally Candid Kevin Bacon," interview with Chris Chase, in Cosmopolitan (New York), September 1994.

"25 Helpings of Kevin Bacon," interview with Ray Rogers, in Interview (New York), October 1994.

"Kevin Bacon Wants to Be the Guy," interview with Holly Sorensen, in Premiere (New York), March 1995.

"Leading Edge," interview with Bart Mills, in Time Out (London), 29 November, 1995.

Interview with Mark Salisbury, in Empire (London), no. 79, 1996.

On BACON: articles—

Lubow, Arthur, "Footloose Fever," in People Weekly (New York), 2 April 1984.

Saban, S., "Bacon Bounces Back," in Movieline (Escondido, California), December 1992.

"Making Waves," in Film Review (London), March 1995.

Noomen, Erik, "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon," in Skrien (Amsterdam), December–January 1997–1998.

The good-looking, WASPish Kevin Bacon has had a shaky but generally respected acting career, both in the American cinema and on the New York stage. For a time in the mid-eighties, Bacon was considered a major star, but because of a number of poor project choices and a certain stiffness the actor displays on camera he has not quite maintained his major rank. In the 1990s Bacon reestablished himself as something of a character actor playing the kind of sexy, dangerous roles he began his career with and he seems poised to follow many of his colleagues into directing.

By the time Herbert Ross's Footloose came out in 1984, vaulting Bacon to stardom, he had already made an impression on critics with his drugged-out gay hustler Ricky in the off-Broadway production Forty Deuce and as Fenwick in Barry Levinson's 1982 sleeper, Diner. While the former is virtually unknown outside the New York Village scene (the Paul Morrissey film adaptation starring Bacon and Orson Bean was barely released), Bacon's performance in it exemplifies his appeal to directors looking for attractive young actors willing to throw vanity aside and play unglamorous, unlikable people. (Ricky was a character Bacon would recreate, to a certain extent, for Oliver Stone's J.F.K.) Bacon's praised work as the intelligent but foolish and self-destructive Fenwick in Diner is also part of this actors' tradition Bacon still subscribes to.

It almost seems an anomaly that Bacon wound up in Footloose, one of the shallower films in his credits (and a role he did not seem quite comfortable with), but the film was a major blockbuster and it seemed to increase anticipations that the 25-year-old actor would become a major star. Expectations were suddenly very high, but Bacon tellingly chose to claim a kinship with the stage in a live television performance of the play Mr. Roberts (as Ensign Pulver) a month after Footloose's record-breaking run had begun.

While Bacon might have done well to swing back and forth from "acting" on stage (and in independent cinema) and "starring" in major studio films, the choices offered him in these realms were often second-rank. Quicksilver was Bacon's Footloose follow-up, but critics and audiences ignored the formulaic picture. Lemon Sky was an actorly realization of a Lanford Wilson script for American Playhouse, but, aside from giving Bacon an opportunity to act with his future wife Kyra Sedgwick, it did little to further his career. Some of Bacon's best work in the late eighties was either in poor films (his brilliant psychopath Martin Thiel, opposite Gary Oldman, in Criminal Law) or in fine, but little-seen pictures (such as the winsome sci-fi pastiche Tremors). Bacon enjoyed moderate success in She's Having a Baby as an expectant father opposite Elizabeth McGovern but his next major comedy The Big Picture, a satire of Hollywood, was barely released. By the nineties, Bacon seemed to star only in critical and box-office disappointments such as He Said, She Said and The Air Up There.

Bacon did regain some cachet in such ensemble films as Queens Logic and Apollo 13 (as a touchingly portrayed Jack Swigert) but it was in character roles that he most impressed nineties audiences. Bacon returned to hustling, distinguishing himself in a cast of heavy-hitters, in J.F.K.; played a convincingly menacing military lawyer for Rob Reiner in A Few Good Men; held his own against Meryl Streep in The River Wild; and surprised many observers with his nearly operatic turn as Henri Young, an inmate driven mad by the conditions of Alcatraz in Murder in the First. As the nineties continued, Bacon reteamed with Barry Levinson for the ensemble film Sleepers, co-starring Robert De Niro, Brad Pitt, and Jason Patric but his future may place him more often behind the camera. Bacon's directorial debut, the Showtime film Losing Chase, premiered at Sundance in 1996 to enthusiastic responses. While the project was hampered by a contrived script, its surefooted style and uniform acting excellence indicates that Bacon may harbor considerable talents as a director.

—Daniel Humphrey