# Google can now search for a person's "Bacon Number" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 13, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-can-now-search-for-a-persons-bacon-number/634615 "2012-09-13T18:13:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-can-now-search-for-a-persons-bacon-number/634615/61 "2012-09-14T17:49:20Z")
Back in grad school, I found someone with a Bacon number of 7 and got on the Hall of Fame page on the Oracle of Bacon. One of my prouder moments. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-can-now-search-for-a-persons-bacon-number/634615/62 "2012-09-14T19:56:37Z")
William Rufus Shafter. Just saw it in a publication. Supposedly only 196 names on IMDb are 6 or greater. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-can-now-search-for-a-persons-bacon-number/634615/63 "2012-09-15T19:31:54Z")
Oddly, it works on my home computer but not on my work computer. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-can-now-search-for-a-persons-bacon-number/634615/64 "2012-09-15T22:37:25Z")
It works for non-actors too. **Kate Bush’s Bacon number is 3** _Kate Bush_ and _Miranda Richardson_ appeared in **[The Line, the Cross and the Curve](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107421/)**\*. _Miranda Richardson_ and _Sarah Jessica Parker_ appeared in **[Spinning Into Butter](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0469976/)**. _Sarah Jessica Parker_ and _Kevin Bacon_ appeared in **[Footloose](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087277/)**. - **[The Line, the Cross and the Curve](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line,_the_Cross_%26_the_Curve)** is a musical film that Kate directed, consisting of a series of shorts set to songs based on a central theme of her album [The Red Shoes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Shoes_%28album%29) (itself inspired by the 1948 film [The Red Shoes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Shoes_%281948_film%29)). It counts because it showed in theaters. It premiered at a theater during the 37th London Film Festival, and my husband and I saw it twice in theaters (once in a suburb of London, and once at Chicago’s Facets theater.) ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-can-now-search-for-a-persons-bacon-number/634615/65 "2012-09-15T23:20:52Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > It works for non-actors too. Another funny one: Ravi Shankar’s Bacon number is 3 Ravi Shankar and Bob Dylan appeared in The Concert for Bangladesh. Bob Dylan and Chris Penn appeared in Masked and Anonymous. Chris Penn and Kevin Bacon appeared in Footloose. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-can-now-search-for-a-persons-bacon-number/634615/66 "2012-09-15T23:31:12Z")
Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall are both 2s. Since I was in a movie with both of them ([The Portrait](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107859/)), my Bacon Number is 3. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Musky\_Moon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@Musky\_Moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musky_Moon)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-can-now-search-for-a-persons-bacon-number/634615/67 "2012-09-16T01:48:55Z")
I was surprised that Harry Houdini had a Bacon Number. It’s 4, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-can-now-search-for-a-persons-bacon-number/634615/68 "2012-09-16T02:08:50Z")
So photographs don’t count? Damn, I gotta get myself in a movie. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-can-now-search-for-a-persons-bacon-number/634615/69 "2012-09-16T05:51:18Z")
My number is 3. Everyone famous I ever met is a 2. ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-can-now-search-for-a-persons-bacon-number/634615/70 "2012-09-16T13:59:40Z")
I have a Bacon Number of 2, and hubby has a Bacon Number of 3, if we’re going by our connections celebrities we have met and interacted with, not just “Hey, it’s that guy eating at the table two over from us!”. Neither hubby nor I are actors, so there’s no other way to link us. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-can-now-search-for-a-persons-bacon-number/634615/71 "2012-09-16T14:22:45Z")
Sir Francis Bacon has a Bacon Number of infin…ERROR…ERROR…ERROR…OVERLOAD…\ ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-can-now-search-for-a-persons-bacon-number/634615/72 "2012-09-16T15:24:52Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Sir Francis Bacon has a Bacon Number of infin…ERROR…ERROR…ERROR…OVERLOAD…\ However, the painter Francis Bacon appeared in the short film\* Heads with Marianne Faithfull …who appeared in Marie Antoinette with Rose Byrne …who appeared in X-Men: First Class with Kevin Bacon for a Bacon number of 3 \*Not sure if the official rules require features only ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-can-now-search-for-a-persons-bacon-number/634615/73 "2012-09-16T15:52:15Z")
Since I’ve met Alice Cooper, and he has a Bacon number of 3, I’m claiming a 4 and no one can take that away from me. Even though I’m a nobody. Heh. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-can-now-search-for-a-persons-bacon-number/634615/74 "2012-09-16T19:44:59Z")
Can anyone please point me to an explanation of how to caculate you BN? Anytime that I’ve gone looking for this, it just seems to evaporate on me. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-can-now-search-for-a-persons-bacon-number/634615/75 "2012-09-16T20:28:51Z")
Oh. Is it done like this? You find the most famous person you’ve ever met. (I’ve met Joan Rivers and Pierre Elliot Trudeau). Most of you will probably never have heard of Trudeau and that’s OK. Anyway, you then add one to the BN of the most famous person you have ever met. Is that correct? Is it the number of people you are “away” from Kevin Bacon? So, if I’ve met person A who has met person B who has met Kevin Bacon, then my BN would be 3? Is that right? Me -\> A -\> B -\> Kevin Bacon My BN would be 3. Yes? And that is all it takes? You just need to meet them? You don’t even need to speak with them? You just shake their hand and that is good enough? What if they pass by you and pay no attention to you and you shout at them, “Hello Joan!”. Does that count as having met Joan Rivers? How do you define “having met” someone or “knowing” someone? Do they have to appear in a film with Kevin Bacon? OMG!! I just Googled “Joan River Bacon Number” and it told me that her BN was 2. So my BN would be 3? OMG! I feel special now. Woo! Woo! Woo! I yam a 3!!! Does that mean that anyone I have exchanged email with is a 4? ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-can-now-search-for-a-persons-bacon-number/634615/76 "2012-09-16T20:37:21Z")
You know, this BN is not really a good measure of anything because … If you meet someone like Joan Rivers who has interviewed lots of celebs on the red carpet for Oscar Night or Emmy night (cringe), she is bound to have a very low BN. And so then you will prob have a very low BN too. But, so what? Why would that make you special? All you did was meet that dork! You never did anything celebritary worthy. So what makes you special? Nothing, really! Oh my. Emmy night? That should count as negative numbers. Ugh! ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-can-now-search-for-a-persons-bacon-number/634615/77 "2012-09-16T20:47:13Z")
I once participated in an acting workshop conducted by Chris Sarandon. He has a Bacon number of 2. Does that make mine 3? ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-can-now-search-for-a-persons-bacon-number/634615/78 "2012-09-16T20:55:54Z")
I’d just like to tell you how I met Joan Rivers so that someone can tell me if that would count towards my BN. She was playing a concert one night in Vancouver around 1985 and I guess she is a vegetarian because there was only one half-decent vegetarian restaurant in Vancouver at that time and I went in to get some “take out” and then she came in with Franken and Davis to get some takeout as well. I guess they were her writers at that time. I said, “Hello” and we got to chatting and one thing led to another and she invited me to come to her concert that night and come backstage and meet the backstage people. But I could not do that because I was working that night. Anyway that is the long and short of it. Oh! I should look up Al Franken’s BN and Tom Davis’ BN too. I just said hello to them and shook their hands. But would that count towards my BN? Humph! Both Franken and Davis also have BN’s of 2. I’m guessing it will be pretty tough for me to get my BN below 3. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-can-now-search-for-a-persons-bacon-number/634615/79 "2012-09-16T20:58:30Z")
> [@Lazlo Hapsburg](#): > > Anyway, you then add one to the BN of the most famous person you have ever met. Is that correct? No, that’s not how it works. You have to _actually have acted in a movie with_ someone who has acted in a movie (etc., repeat or subtract as needed for whatever value of Bacon) with Kevin Bacon. Being the cousin of Kevin Bacon’s hairdresser’s secret gay lover, while nice, I’m sure, does not give you a Bacon number. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-can-now-search-for-a-persons-bacon-number/634615/80 "2012-09-16T21:00:07Z")
> [@freckafree](#): > > I once participated in an acting workshop conducted by Chris Sarandon. He has a Bacon number of 2. Does that make mine 3? Oh wow! Chris Sarandon is a great actor. I remember him from Dog Day Afternoon. He played Al Pacino’s gay lover. He was great in that film. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-can-now-search-for-a-persons-bacon-number/634615.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-can-now-search-for-a-persons-bacon-number/634615.md?page=5)