American film and theater actor Kevin Bacon was born on July 8, 1958 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At age 13, he knew he wanted to be an actor, causing him to leave home four years later to pursue a theater career in New York. He was one of the youngest students admitted into the Circle in the Square Theater School.
Kevin Bacon debuted in film as Chip Diller in Animal House in 1978, but this did not give him the immediate fame he hoped for. In 1982, he won an Obie Award for his role in the play Forty Deuce. Soon after, he made his Broadway debut in Slab Boys. It was his portrayal of Timothy Fenwick in Barry Levinson’s Diner that made critics notice.
He garnered more attention when he was cast as Ren McCormack in the box-office hit Footloose, directed by Herbert Ross. This, however, made it difficult for him to shake off his on-screen image of a rebellious teenager, and Bacon had problems getting the lead in other films. In 1988, he played a newlywed in the comedies She’s Having a Baby and The Big Picture. His performance was not greatly applauded, and he moved on to playing the hero in the film Tremors in 1990.
The next year, Kevin Bacon starred with Elizabeth Perkins in the romantic comedy He Said, She Said. He made another comeback that year, playing a gay prostitute in Oliver Stone’s JFK. He was then cast with Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men. In 1994, he earned an Emmy nomination for his work in The River Wild. The next year, he played Henri Young in Murder in the First. His success continued and he had a notable performance in the blockbuster, Apollo 13 in 1995. This was followed by another dark role for him in Sleepers, and in the lighthearted romance Picture Perfect. He became the executive producer in Wild Things, where he had a supporting role. In 2000, he was in Paul Verhoeven’s Hollow Man. Four years after, Kevin Bacon was once again acclaimed for his performance in The Woodsman and Where the Truth Lies.