I first remember Kevin Bacon from his small role as "Chip Diller" in Animal House (1978). He had a small role in the original Friday the 13th (1980) and a much larger role in Diner (1980). But it was his turn as "Ren McCormick" in Footloose that really got Bacon noticed.

The movie was loosely based on events that took place in the tiny, rural Oklahoma farming community of Elmore City where dancing had been banned for nearly 90 years until a group of high school teens challenged it. It is rumored that the role of "Ren" almost went to several other actors including Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise and Christopher Atkins, but it ultimately went to Bacon and now I cannot picture anybody but him playing that role. Footloose made Kevin Bacon into a star.

Footloose appears on several of my Top 10 lists including most notably my Top Dancing Scenes from 80s Movies and Top 80s Movie Montages. Both of those are worth checking out if you so wish. Now, here is the original trailer for Footloose...

Footloose Movie Trailer - Watch today’s top amazing videos here

After Footloose, you would think Bacon's career would have launched into the superstardom, but that was not the case. Bacon did not accept his teen heartthrob image and tried to stay away from similar opportunities to play teenagers. He would star in John Hughes' 1988 movie, She's Having a Baby which was a departure for Hughes and not well received. While filming that movie, Bacon would agree to a cameo in another Hughes movie, 1987's Planes, Trains & Automobiles which is one of my very favorite films of the decade. Bacon's role was titled "Taxi Racer" and here is the one minute scene for your viewing pleasure:

Bacon would bounce back in the 90s with appearances in many very successful films including A Few Good Men, JFK, The River Wild, Apollo 13 and Wild Things just to name a few of my favorites. Many of you may have heard of a little game called "6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon" in which you try to connect another Hollywood actor to Kevin Bacon in six or less steps. As an example, you could connect Eddie Murphy to Bacon by saying Murphy was in Beverly Hills Cop with Judge Reinhold who was in Fast Times at Ridgemont High with Sean Penn who was in At Close Range with his brother Chris Penn who was in Footloose with Bacon. It is a fun game which Bacon himself would eventually embrace and he now even has a charity network at www.SixDegrees.org that links people to charities.

Bacon has been a busy actor and he is a musician, too. He and his brother, Michael, have a band called The Bacon Brothers and they have released six albums. He has come a long way from his days as an Omega pledge in Animal House and I highly doubt that he dances around by himself in a barn anymore, but Kevin Bacon will always remain a memorable part of the 80s.

That'll wrap up another issue of Kickin' it Old School. Hope you enjoy the "Preview Review" issues and please let me know if there are any 80s movies that you want to see me cover. Thanks as always for reading. If you are interested in reading any of my other 80s related issues, please click there for a summary of those. You can also always click on the Archives in the upper left hand column or use the Google Search Box at the top of the right hand column to find any other issues you may have missed. If you are a fan of Kickin' it, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FACEBOOK LOGO in the upper right hand column. This will take you to the Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "Become a Fan". Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.

Check this out: Here was an interesting site that I was made aware of by my friends over at The Retroist. For those of you who just can't get enough of the marshmallows in your cereal, there is a website now where you can just order cereal marshmallows. Now you can increase your ratio of marshmallows in your bowl or just eat them alone. This would be perfect for that silly rabbit who is always being told that "Trix is for kids" or that little leprechaun that is protecting his Lucky Charms because now they can order their own direct supply of cereal marshmallows.

Quote of the day: "Any idiot can get laid when they're famous. That's easy. It's getting laid when you're not famous that takes some talent." -Kevin Bacon