Robert Press of the zine "Our Two Cents" wrote to us to say, "That 'Kevin Bacon is the Center of the Universe' article was totally lifted from either Entertainment Weekly or Spy. Yeah, you acknowledge it, but it's just a rewrite. What's the point?"
The point is that not everyone may have read the "original" write-ups and we were hoping to shed some light on this theory to those who may not have heard it. Also, I am totally enthralled by the Kevin Bacon game and not a day goes by when I don't play it.
For those who may have missed any of the articles, TV show appearances, or radio show call-ins—the Kevin Bacon Theory is that one can trace almost any actor in almost any film back to Kevin Bacon.
A round-about example: Isaac Hayes to Paul Bartel in either Posse or Acting on Impulse, Bartel to Clint Howard in Rock 'n' Roll High School, and Howard to Kevin Bacon in the new hit film Apollo 13.
See? It's just that easy! And to me it has become an obsession. I wouldn't let myself go to sleep the other night until I came up with a list of at least five "one-links" between Kevin Bacon and Sylvester Stallone. Sharon Stone (The Specialist and He Said, She Said), Michael Rooker (Cliffhanger and JFK), John Lithgow (Cliffhanger and Footloose), Donald Sutherland (Lock Up and JFK), and Peter Riegert (Oscar and Animal House).
Sure, I get stumped—all the time as a matter of fact. I don't like Danny Kaye and don't watch his movies so how should I know how to get from him to Kevin Bacon? I also ran into a snag when someone asked about Gina Lollobrigida—I'm still a young cinephile with a lot to learn! If you really must know... Kaye to Boris Karloff in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Karloff to Jack Nicholson in The Terror, and Nicholson to Kevin Bacon in A Few Good Men. Lollobrigida to Peter Lorre in Beat the Devil, Lorre was also in The Terror—voila!
What's the point? The point is I like to write about things I enjoy. Sure, I know everyone and his/her brother has written about Red Sovine and Beat Box but I thought I could give them a new spin with my unique viewpoint. And perhaps people have read the other Kevin Bacon articles but maybe it was mine that convinced them to actually give it a try. I know some zinesters have taken much more of a shine to my article than Mr. Press, such as Rich Osmond, who frequently flexes his Bacon-tracing muscles. Here are some examples from him:
Nina Siemaszko and Tom Skerritt in Wild Orchid 2. Skerritt and Tom Cruise in Top Gun. Cruise and Kevin Bacon in A Few Good Men.
Renee Zellweger and Peter Fonda in Love and a .45. Fonda and Warren Oates in Race with the Devil, Oates and John Candy in Stripes. Candy and Kevin Bacon in JFK.
A Kevin Bacon Filmography
Animal House—Apollo 13—The Air Up There—The Big Picture—Criminal Law—Diner—End of the Line—Enormous Changes—A Few Good Men—Flatliners—Footloose—Friday the 13th—He Said, She Said—Hero at Large—JFK—Murder in the First—Only When I Laugh—Planes, Trains and Automobiles—Pyrates—Queens Logic—Quicksilver—The River Wild—She's Having a Baby—Starting Over—Tremors—Trumps—White Water Summer