Kevin Bacon Net Worth in 2024: A Deep Dive into His Most Successful Films and Investments
Best known for his roles in Footloose, Tremors, and Mystic River, Kevin Bacon has been acting since the late 1970s. Since that time he’s appeared in more than 100 movies and TV series.
However as of 2024, Kevin Bacon’s net worth comes from more than just his acting. His financial success also comes from his work as a producer and director. Not to mention, his band, real estate investments, and charity organization also impact his overall net worth.
Continue on to discover Bacon’s most successful projects and investments and follow his career from the beginning until now.
Early Life
Kevin Norwood Bacon was born on July 8, 1958, in Philadelphia. His father, Edmund Bacon, was the executive director of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. His mother, Ruth Hilda Holmes, was an elementary school teacher and liberal activist. He is the youngest in a brood of six.
Bacon attended middle school and high school at Julia R. Masterman High School. He later attended Bucknell University on a full scholarship in their Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts.
Acting Career
When he was 17 years old, Bacon moved to New York to pursue a career in theater. Three years later, he had his film debut as Chip Diller in the comedy National Lampoon’s Animal House.
The paycheck for the role wasn’t a significant addition to Kevin Bacon’s net worth at the time, as it was only a salary of $700 a week during the filming.
The next few years had Bacon appearing in minor roles in films like Starting Over, Friday the 13th, and in director Barry Levinson’s directorial debut, Diner.
During the start of the 1980s, Bacon was cast in a recurring role in the television soap opera Guiding Light. He portrayed the character Tim Werner for seven episodes. He also played roles in the TV films The Demon Murder Case and Mister Roberts.
Footloose
It was in 1984 when Bacon shot to fame almost overnight with the box office hit Footloose. The film did not exactly get ravishing reviews from critics. However, the soundtrack was instrumental in attracting moviegoers.
Footloose became one of the top-grossing films in the US for that year. Gross earnings amounted to $80 million with a budget of only $8.2 million. This included Bacon’s reporting acting salary of $1 million.
Tremors
In 1990, Bacon would star in two very memorable films, although they were not really huge box office hits. The first was Tremors, which spawned several sequels and where Bacon earned a $500,000 paycheck.
With a budget of $11 million, the movie grossed a little over $16 million worldwide.
Flatliners
The second movie that year was Flatliners, which earned $61.5 million from theaters worldwide. It featured a stellar cast that included Julia Roberts, Kiefer Sutherland, William Baldwin, and Oliver Platt. Michael Douglas directed the film.
JFK
The next big hit for Bacon would be the political thriller JFK in 1991, where Kevin Costner played the lead role of Jim Garrison, and Bacon was cast as Willie O’Keefe. It opened in the US with earnings of $5.2 million and went on to finish at a whopping $205.4 million.
A Few Good Men
A year later, Bacon would star in another blockbuster, this time joining Hollywood A-Listers Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, and Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men. Critics applauded the film and showered it with a multitude of nominations, including Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
Likewise, moviegoers also warmly welcomed it as it earned over $15.5 million on opening weekend. It went on to rake in $243.2 million in theater revenues against a budget of $41 million.
By this point, Kevin Bacon’s net worth was slowly rising with each film, as were the amounts of his paychecks. Bacon took home a salary of $650,000 for his performance as Captain Jack Ross.
Apollo 13
In 1995, Bacon starred in Apollo 13 opposite Tom Hanks. It turned out to be yet another smash hit, generating $355.2 million in theater earnings.
The film won two out of nine Oscar nominations that year. Bacon and the entire cast, with co-stars Tom Hanks, Ed Harris, Gary Sinise, Bill Paxton, and Kathleen Quinlan, also won the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
The River Wild
In the same year, Bacon appeared in a supporting role in the adventure thriller The River Wild with Meryl Streep. He earned his first Golden Globe nomination for that performance. The movie went on to earn $94.2 million at the box office.
Sleepers
In 1996, Kevin Bacon’s net worth got a sizable boost of $2.5 million when he starred in the legal drama Sleepers. It features a formidable cast that includes big names in the likes of Brad Pitt, Robert de Niro, and Dustin Hoffman.
Hollow Man
As the new millennium began, Bacon’s star shined even more brightly as he continued to star in commercial hits. First up was the sci-fi horror film Hollow Man. With a relatively large budget of $95 million, it was able to generate more than twice that at $190.2 million. It also won him Favorite Actor at the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards in 2001.
Mystic River
In 2003, Bacon would appear in one of his most critically acclaimed films to date. Mystic River earned six Academy Award nominations, with Sean Penn and Tim Robbins bagging the trophy for the two top actor categories.
At the box office, it started rather slowly, with only $640,815 coming in during the opening weekend. But after the theater run was over, the film’s gross earnings reached $156.6 million. It had a production budget of $25 million.
The Woodsman
In 2004, Bacon worked with his wife Kyra Sedgwick in The Woodsman. It was the fourth movie that the couple had starred in together. Unfortunately, the film was a box office flop, earning less than $4.7 million in theaters.
X-Men: First Class
Bacon would join X-Men: First Class in 2011 when he took on the role of Sebastian Shaw. Like most Marvel movies, First Class had an awesome turnout in theaters. It made a very impressive $352.6 million against a budget of $160 million.
The Following
In 2013, Bacon was cast as Ryan Hardy in the Fox TV series The Following. It would be one of Bacon’s most notable television roles, especially after appearing in 45 episodes. He won the Saturn Award for Best Actor during the show’s first season.
Recent Work
Before the pandemic, Bacon had starred alongside Amanda Seyfried in the psychological horror You Should Have Left. In 2022, he starred in They/Them and Space Oddity, directed by his wife, Kyra Sedgwick. He also starred in James Gunn’s The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, released on Disney+ on November 25, 2022.
In September 2023, Bacon starred in The Toxic Avenger opposite Peter Dinklage and Elijah Wood. And at the end of 2023, he starred in Sam Esmail’s Leave the World Behind, which is a family drama based on the upcoming novel by Rumaan Alam. The Netflix film also starred Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke.
Additionally, Bacon has three films in post-production, including Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley opposite Eddie Murphy, A24’s MaXXine with Mia Goth and Lily Collins, and the Orson Bean Show.
The Bacon Brothers
Also impacting Kevin Bacon’s net worth is his band, The Bacon Brothers, which he started with his brother Michael Bacon. Together, the two label their music as “Forosoco,” meaning it’s a blend of folk, rock, soul, and country music.
The brothers have played songs all over the world, from Japan to Carnegie Hall to the Grand Ole Opry.
Other Ventures
In 2012, Kevin Bacon’s net worth got another boost when he appeared in a series of EE Mobile Network commercials in the UK. His participation in the ad campaigns was based on the concept of Six Degrees and his numerous roles in films.
In 2015, Bacon was selected as the spokesperson for the egg industry in the US. The campaign was based on a pun of eggs and bacon.
Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi Scheme
Another sizable impact on Kevin Bacon’s net worth came from his involvement with the fraudster Bernie Madoff. In fact, his net worth was north of $100 million at the time he was lured into the trap. Like many other celebrities at the time, Bacon and his wife had invested heavily in the Ponzi scheme. The couple suffered losses in the tens of millions of dollars.
“There’s obvious life lessons there. You know, if something is too good to be true, it’s too good to be true,” Bacon said in an interview with EW.
“When something like that happens, you know, you look at each other, then you go, ‘Well, that sucks. Let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work,’ you know?” he added.
According to reports, the Madoff Victim Fund has returned more than $4 billion to the more than 40,000 Madoff victims. This includes an undisclosed amount that Bacon and his wife had recovered.
Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon
In 1994, a bunch of college buddies came up with the game called Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. It is based on the six degrees of separation concept where everyone can be linked to anyone else in six steps or less.
Bacon later established the group SixDegrees.org, inspired by the game. To this day, Bacon continues to run the nonprofit organization, which has raised more than $12 million in funds.
Real Estate
Together with his wife, Bacon purchased a home in Los Angeles in 2011 for $2.5 million. The property is located in the neighborhood of Los Feliz.
In the 1990s, they had also invested in a rural estate in Sharon, Connecticut, covering 40 acres. The couple also owns a lavish New York City apartment.
Personal Life
Kevin Bacon has been married to actress Kyra Sedgwick since 1988. Together they have two children – Travis Sedgwick and Sosie Ruth, who is also an actress.
The couple lives in Manhattan on the Upper West Side. Earlier in the 1980s, Bacon had dated actress Tracy Pollan for five years.
Kevin Bacon’s Net Worth in 2024
As of 2024, Kevin Bacon’s net worth is estimated at $45 million. While his acting career is primarily responsible for that number, his work as a producer and director as well as his investments, real estate portfolio, and band also impact his net worth.
Fans of Bacon can look forward to seeing him next in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley with Eddie Murphy. Additionally, he’s also in pre-production on the TV series Lucky 13. The series is billed as a high-stakes general knowledge rolling quiz show, where Bacon will serve as the host and executive producer.
He’s also set to direct the crime-comedy A Problem of Providence, though that project is still in very early development.
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