Kevin Bacon
Born: 8th July 1958
Where: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The actor won critical plaudits for his sympathetic portrayal of a paedophile confronting his demons in the drama The Woodsman.
He first made his mark as the brilliant but self-destructive Fenwick in Barry Levinson's Diner.
Other memorable roles have included the dancing rebel in Footloose, the overly expectant father in She's Having A Baby and the hapless handyman in Tremors.
His fame has also inspired the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, whereby people have to link any given actor to him by no more than six steps.
The son of a famous Philadelphia city planner and the youngest of six children, Bacon completed his dramatic education at New York's Manning St Actor's Theatre and made his off-Broadway debut in Getting Out.
His debut on Broadway came in 1983, co-starring with Sean Penn and Val Kilmer in the John Byrne play, Slab Boys.
Bacon emerged as a screen actor around the same time as many Brat-packers in the late 80s but didn't disappear into obscurity, maintaining a constant career.
After a couple of TV series - The Guiding Light and Search for Tomorrow - and a few forgettable film roles (National Lampoon's Animal House) Diner came along.
His performance as the brilliant but self-destructive Fenwick in Barry Levinson's coming-of-age drama raised his profile.
A starring role in the 1984 film Footloose brought more mainstream box-office success which he followed up with Pyrates in 1990, where he met his wife, actress Kyra Sedgwick, on set.
Subsequent appearances included the splendid B-movie spoof Tremors and Oliver Stone's political conspiracy drama JFK.
He received a Golden Globe nomination for The River Wild with Meryl Streep in 1995 and also appeared in Ron Howard's critically acclaimed Apollo 13.
Bacon starred with Neve Campbell and Matt Dillon in Wild Things three years later and starred in the supernatural chiller Stir of Echoes in 1999.
His profile was further raised in the sci-fi thriller Hollow Man and he also starred opposite Charlize Theron in the lacklustre Trapped.
More recent work includes Clint Eastwood's return to directorial form Mystic River and Jane Campion's erotic thriller In The Cut with Meg Ryan.
Bacon has received critical acclaim for his latest performance as a paedophile in The Woodsman and switched styles to play a camp stylist in the comedy Beauty Shop.
His rhythm and blues band The Bacon boys, in which he plays with his brother Michael, played at Elizabeth Taylor's 65th birthday celebration.
