Kevin Bacon

Bacon with wife Kyra Sedgwick in 2011, image via DFree/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: Kevin Norwood Bacon

Place of Birth: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

Date of Birth: July 8, 1958

Ethnicity: English (mostly), some Irish/Norhtern Irish, German, and Welsh

Kevin Bacon is an American actor and musician. He is known for his roles in the films National Lampoon’s Animal House, Friday the 13th, Diner, Footloose, She’s Having a Baby, Flatliners, JFK, A Few Good Men, The River Wild, Apollo 13, Sleepers, Wild Things, Hollow Man, Mystic River, The Woodsman, Frost/Nixon, X-Men: First Class, Crazy, Stupid, Love., Black Mass, and Patriots Day, and on television’s Taking Chance, The Following, and City on a Hill, among many other works. He directed the films Losing Chase and Loverboy.

Kevin is the son of Ruth Hilda (Holmes), a teacher and liberal activist, and Edmund Bacon (Edmund Norwood Bacon), a prominent urban planner, architect, educator, and author, who shaped the city of Philadelphia. Along with his brother, Michael Bacon, he is part of the musical duo The Bacon Brothers. Kevin is married to actress Kyra Sedgwick, with whom he has two children, including actress Sosie Bacon. His aunt (mother’s twin sister) is writer Anne Near.

Kevin is of mostly English, and some Irish/Northern Irish, German, and Welsh, ancestry. Much of his family tree goes back to Colonial America of the 1600s.

Kevin’s paternal grandfather was Ellis Williams Bacon (the son of Thomas Pryor Bacon and Annie Elizabeth Ellis). Kevin’s grandfather Ellis was born in Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., Pennsylvania. Thomas was the son of Edmund Pryor Bacon and Martha W. Watson. Annie was the daughter of James Pemberton Ellis and Hannah Henry Sterling.

Kevin’s paternal grandmother was Helen Atkinson Comly (the daughter of Robert Comly and Lydia Townsend Atkinson). Helen was born in Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., Pennsylvania. Robert was the son of Charles B. Comly and Debby Ann Newbold. Lydia was the daughter of George Tatem/Tatum Atkinson and Elizabeth Bond.

Kevin’s maternal grandfather was Artemas H. Holmes, Jr. (the son of Artemas Henry Holmes and Lillian Stokes). Kevin’s grandfather Artemas was born in New York, New York, and was President of Street and Smith Publications, and a professional tennis player. Kevin’s great-grandfather Artemas was the son of Artemas Lawrence Holmes and Mary Margaret Bloomer. Lillian was the daughter of Henry Stokes and Mary Ann Stiles.

Kevin’s maternal grandmother was Dorothy Frances Smith (the daughter of George Campbell Smith and Annie/Anne Kammerer Schmertz). Dorothy was born in New York, New York. George was the son of Francis Shubael Smith, whose mother was from an English family in the West Indies; and of Mary Jellett/Jellette Duff, whose parents were from Ireland. Annie was the daughter of William Erwin Schmertz and Amelia A. Kammerer. Kevin’s great-great-grandfather Francis Shubael Smith partnered with Francis Scott Street and started the publishing firm of Street & Smith. Their son, Kevin’s great-great-uncle Ormond Gerald Smith, was later its president.

Kevin and his wife Kyra Sedgwick are ninth cousins, once removed, through their common ancestors Richard Willets (born 1618) and Mary Washbush (born 1629). A genealogical relationship of this degree is extremely common among people of Colonial American ancestry.

A DNA test taken by the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2012) stated that Kevin’s genetic ancestry is:

*100% European

Genetically, he was found to have a common ancestor with comedian and talk show host Seth Meyers and actress and filmmaker Kasi Lemmons, through shared European ancestry.

Sources: Genealogies of Kevin Bacon – https://www.geni.com
http://famouskin.com

Marriage record of Kevin’s maternal great-grandparents, George Campbell Smith and Annie/Anne Kammerer Schmertz – https://www.familysearch.org