“Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” is a game that can be played anytime and anywhere by anybody.  It is, indeed, light enjoyment perfect for holiday conversation around the dinner table during dessert.  The game’s purpose is to connect an actor or an actress to Kevin Bacon in six steps or less, using movies as the connectors.

For example, William Holden can be connected in three steps.  Holden was in Network with Faye Dunaway, who was in Chinatown with Jack Nicholson, who was in A Few Good Men with Kevin Bacon.

Mary Tyler Moore was in Change of Habit with Ed Asner, who was in Fort Apache, The Bronx with Paul Newman, who was in The Road to Perdition with Tom Hanks, who was in Apollo 13 with Kevin Bacon.  Another Moore connection to Bacon:  Moore was in Ordinary People with Donald Sutherland, who was in Heaven Help Us with Andrew McCarthy, who was in St. Elmo’s Fire with Demi Moore, who was in A Few Good Men with Kevin Bacon.  Sutherland can also be connected as follows:  Sutherland was in The Dirty Dozen with George Kennedy, who was in Airport with Jacqueline Bisset, who was in Class with Rob Lowe, who was in About Last Night with Demi Moore, who was in St. Elmo’s Fire with Kevin Bacon.

Dick Van Dyke shot to stardom in his legendary sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show; a film career launched concurrently.  Van Dyke was in Mary Poppins with Julie Andrews, who was in 10 with Dudley Moore, who was in Arthur with Liza Minelli, who was in New York, New York with Robert De Niro, who was in Sleepers with Kevin Bacon.  Another De Niro path to Bacon:  De Niro was in The Godfather, Part II with Al Pacino, who was in Any Given Sunday with Matthew Modine, who was in Private School with Phoebe Cates, who was in Fast Times at Ridgemont High with Sean Penn, who was in Mystic River with Kevin Bacon.

Alan Alda was in Same Time, Next Year with Ellen Burstyn, who was in Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, with Sandra Bullock, who was in Speed with Keanu Reeves, who was in The Devil’s Advocate with Charlize Theron, who was in That Thing You Do! with Tom Hanks, who was in Apollo 13 with Kevin Bacon.

Lucille Ball was in Yours, Mine, and Ours with Henry Fonda, who was in Mr. Roberts with Jack Lemmon, who was in JFK with Kevin Bacon.  Sid Caesar was in Grease with John Travolta, who was in Moment By Moment with Lily Tomlin, who was in Nine To Five with Dabney Coleman, who was in North Dallas Forty with Nick Nolte, who was in Cape Fear with Robert De Niro, who was in Sleepers with Kevin Bacon.

Bob Hope was in Spies Like Us with Dan Aykroyd, who was in Sneakers with Robert Redford, who was in All the President’s Men with Dustin Hoffman, who was in Sleepers with Kevin Bacon.