Actor Kevin Bacon Helps Bring His Namesake Pig Home
What would you do if you saw a pig on the run? Recently in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, a 200-pound, black-spotted white pig named Kevin Bacon (get it?) escaped from a barn just one day after he had moved in there. The — ahem — footloose runaway Kevin Bacon the pig first went to a nearby campground, and was seen circling his home starting October 14.
Chelsea Rumbaugh and her family, the pig's new owners, tried to set a trap with food in the barn, but the swine remained elusive for more than two weeks. Read on for the tale of Kevin Bacon the pig — and learn how his famous namesake got involved in this wacky story!
Kevin Bacon pig goes viral
The story of Kevin Bacon the pig quickly began to go viral, as locals and faraway strangers alike started rooting for the wayward pig to come home. The Rumbaughs started a Facebook page called "Bring Kevin Bacon Home," where they posted updates on their searches and requests for help.
It was only a matter of time before the pig's namesake, the Golden Globe and SAG Award-winning actor Kevin Bacon, got involved: On Threads, Bacon posted a PhillyVoice article about the pig caper, and commented: “Bring Kevin Bacon home!” His post had more than 5,000 likes, and got the pig even more attention.
Coming home for a sweet treat
Kevin Bacon the pig was finally caught when he ate a Benadryl-laced cinnamon bun his owners put out to entice him (administered in the correct dose, Benadryl is a safe sedative for pigs). The pig ate the sweet treat and then voluntarily walked back into his new concrete-reinforced pen (all the better to prevent a future escape act). A veterinarian then examined Kevin Bacon the pig and declared the swine healthy.
Rumbaugh told PennLive that Kevin Bacon the pig was, by far, the biggest troublemaker in her family of pigs. “None of the others have ever caused a ruckus like this,” she said. “We did not know what we were getting into with him.”
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Since the pig’s return, Rumbaugh changed Kevin’s Facebook page to Kevin’s Home Adventures. On the page, it says: “A once lost Kevin is now home and learning that humans just might be OK.”
The A-lister has his own pigs
As for Kevin Bacon the man, in a sweet move to honor the sentience of pigs, he no longer eats bacon, according to a recent interview with People. On his Instagram page, Bacon posted a cute video of him gently patting his pig’s belly in what he jokingly referred to as a percussion number called “Pig Belly.” He and his wife, actress Kyra Sedgwick, live on a farm in Connecticut and keep pigs on their property.
Kevin Bacon the pig's future: Helping others
As a result of the pig caper, Rumbaugh realized Kevin Bacon's newfound fame could help her turn her farm into an emotional-support center. She renamed her farm Kevin’s Homestead, and said she hopes to provide a supportive environment for people struggling with mental health and other issues.
“We have plans for our property to be an open-to-the-public farm and offer services for children and adults who struggle with PTSD, anxiety and depression, and Kevin is going to be here for all of that, too,” she said in an interview, adding that Kevin Bacon the pig “has a life of stardom ahead of him." Just like his namesake.
Curiously, the Kevin Bacon story comes just a few weeks after another widely reported story about a celebrity and his namesake rescue animal. In October, an adorable husky at an animal shelter in Nebraska was given the name Bret Michaels — after Bret Michaels, frontman of the '80s hair metal band Poison, of course. When the rockstar and dog lover heard about his namesake, he reached out to inquire about adopting Bret the Husky, and now Bret Michaels the human and Bret Michaels the dog are living happily ever after! Clearly, a celebrity-inspired name for an animal can go a long way to getting them attention and providing them with a happy home. Read the full story here: Rockstar Bret Michaels Adopts Sweet Shelter Dog That Was Named After Him
What has Kevin Bacon (the actor) been up to lately?
With all this talk about Kevin Bacon the pig, you might be wondering what Kevin Bacon the actor has been up to. One of Hollywood's biggest stars for over 40 years, Bacon started out back in 1978, with a small role in National Lampoon’s Animal House. Bacon’s big break came in 1984 with the blockbuster Footloose, in which he played a rebellious teen fighting his conservative town's ban on dancing. Since then, he's appeared in numerous movies, including big hits like Flatliners, JFK, A Few Good Men, Apollo 13 and Mystic River. Bacon also has many small-screen credits, including lead roles on the Showtime series City on a Hill and the Fox show The Following.
Related: See the 1984 Cast of ‘Footloose’ Then and Now
Now 65, Bacon remains in demand. In 2023, he had roles in the movies The Toxic Avenger and Leave the World Behind, and he currently has an Amazon Prime action series, The Bondsman, in the works.
Bacon isn’t just an actor; he's also a singer and philanthropist. Kevin Bacon and his brother, Michael, have a musical duo called The Bacon Brothers, and in 2007, Bacon founded the charity SixDegrees.org, which works toward youth empowerment, justice and equality, and a sustainable living environment.
The organization is cleverly named for "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon," a game in which one attempts to link Bacon to any other actor within six steps. The game arose due to Bacon's ubiquity as an actor, and it's no surprise that his six degrees would lead him to a lovable pig who bears his name!
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