23 Degrees from Kevin Bacon

@Rollo1 (16676)
Boston, Massachusetts
September 9, 2015 6:24am CST
Remember the party game " Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon"? In this game, one has to try to link another actor with Kevin Bacon using no more than six degrees of separation through movie roles, etc. Well, I got an email this morning from my genealogy site that claims I have a close relationship to Kevin Bacon, myself. I checked it out and there are 23 degrees of separation between me and Kevin Bacon. That is, the relationship path through our family connections is 23 from him to me. We are not blood relatives. Pity, I could use a famous relative I could beg money from. But way back when in colonial times, the sister of one of his direct ancestors married the brother of one of my direct ancestors. So, we're cousins. I should write to him immediately and tell him. Are you interested in genealogy and do you have any famous relatives? Better still, do you have any infamous relatives?
7 people like this
8 responses
Bluedoll
@Bluedoll (16770)
• Canada
9 Sep 15
I think that is pretty neat to be related to Kevin. Do you get a sudden urge to want to dance sometimes? My clan is just commoners though you never know maybe I'm distant to the queen of England. Something that didn't go down in records.
2 people like this
AnjaP
@Rollo1 (16676)
• Boston, Massachusetts
9 Sep 15
You inspired me so I decided to check out my connections to Elizabeth Windsor, and she does have a profile on that site. But they only check back 10 generations and so there was no connection found between me and Queen Elizabeth.
1 person likes this
sofs
@sofssu (23660)
•
9 Sep 15
@Bluedoll Now you had me laughing .
Bluedoll
@Bluedoll (16770)
• Canada
9 Sep 15
@sofssu Happy that you have that to share, makes me smile too. :-)
rebelann1949
@rebelann (117258)
• El Paso, Texas
9 Sep 15
Genealogy is fascinating but I really don't care if I'm related to thespians, I'm much more fascinated with historical figures like Chief Dan George or Sitting Bull, I've always fancied myself as part Native American.
1 person likes this
AnjaP
@Rollo1 (16676)
• Boston, Massachusetts
9 Sep 15
A lot of people seem to have some Native American connections. My sister keeps saying that she is sure we have some. But I have done the genealogy on both sides back more than 10 generations all the way to other continents and I am very sure that we have no Native American ancestors. If you think you do, you should start checking into your ancestry. It's fascinating no matter what you find.
1 person likes this
AnjaP
@Rollo1 (16676)
• Boston, Massachusetts
9 Sep 15
@rebelann I have done all my research without spending a penny. I refuse to join Ancestry.com and pay their huge fees. I am going with just what I can find out on my own.
1 person likes this
rebelann1949
@rebelann (117258)
• El Paso, Texas
9 Sep 15
@Rollo1 very true, but also expensive. BTW, in the 1700s and 1800s no one admitted Native American heritage unless it was obvious, all too often families through the 1950s would deny connections with them.
1 person likes this
Hate2Iron
@Hate2Iron (15724)
• Canada
9 Sep 15
Not a hundred percent certain, but it seems that my mother's side can be traced right back to the castle where Harry Potter was shot. We are going back a long way... but it did make watching the movies that much more interesting!!
1 person likes this
AnjaP
@Rollo1 (16676)
• Boston, Massachusetts
9 Sep 15
It can be fascinating to know about people who came before, but it's a little empty in that you can't get to know them. I would love to have met some of my ancestors.
sofs
@sofssu (23660)
•
9 Sep 15
I am an ordinary person, a nonentity .. no connections what so ever.. Good or bad or ugly.
1 person likes this
AnjaP
@Rollo1 (16676)
• Boston, Massachusetts
9 Sep 15
You would be surprised. Everyone comes from somewhere and in everyone's background are both heroes and villains.
1 person likes this
sofs
@sofssu (23660)
•
9 Sep 15
@Rollo1 I agree.. I used to read stuff about genealogy.. but then decided that I am happy being who I am.
Anna
@LadyDuck (502657)
• Italy
9 Sep 15
I am interested in genealogy and I would love to know more about my ancestors. Unfortunately my native country is not very good in archiving data.
1 person likes this
AnjaP
@Rollo1 (16676)
• Boston, Massachusetts
9 Sep 15
You would probably have to go through church records. A lot of the data is stored in records of births and baptisms, etc. Even when governments didn't do a census or keep records, the churches did.
1 person likes this
Anna
@LadyDuck (502657)
• Italy
9 Sep 15
@Rollo1 I remember the pain to have the records of my husband when we married. They are messy here in Italy. Every Church keeps its own records, there is not a global search. My Confirmation records (that are also needed to marry), where not at the Church, but held by my school. It was a Catholic school run by nuns, we had an internal chapel and I had my confirmation there. I wonder how can I find out where my grand and great grand parents were baptized.
Jekca
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
9 Sep 15
they say that there is a good chance we are related to everyone, with something like that, I forget how many degrees of separation. makes hatred over skin color and stupid things like that, well stupid.
1 person likes this
AnjaP
@Rollo1 (16676)
• Boston, Massachusetts
9 Sep 15
At the time my grandfather emigrated from Denmark, one could easily say that everyone in Denmark was related, however distantly, to everyone else. And we do all come from common ancestors if you go back far enough, this is true.
1 person likes this
ElicBxn
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
11 Sep 15
On my mother's side I'm directly descended from one of the earliest settlers in New Jersey and on my father's side I have a relation that goes back to the Mayflower.
Jared D.
@loki1982 (780)
• Dallas, Texas
9 Sep 15
Our local radio station about 10-15 years ago used to play the 6 degrees of kevin bacon. They would pick 2 celebrities and have people call in and link them in 6 or less movies. You won a prize if you could do it. Good times.
1 person likes this
AnjaP
@Rollo1 (16676)
• Boston, Massachusetts
9 Sep 15
i can remember when everyone played that game, too. Of course, he had made a lot more movies back then. He isn't as ubiquitous now.