Kevin Bacon's First Major TV Acting Job Was On A Show That Ran For Over Half A Century

Kevin Bacon entered a new stage in his career with the help of "Guiding Light," one of the longest-running soap operas of all time. Bacon's early career saw the actor earn appearances in a modest string of feature films, from "National Lampoon's Animal House" to the iconic slasher "Friday the 13th." But his first major television role came in 1980 when he was cast in the daytime soap opera "Guiding Light" as Tim Werner, a young adult who struggled with alcohol abuse. Bacon ultimately left the series in 1981, three years before the 1984 musical drama "Footloose" cemented him as a household name.

"Guiding Light" first reached American audiences as a 1937 radio serial before being adapted into a daytime soap opera by CBS in 1952. Although it would cover many narrative arcs throughout its historic run, the series was best known for following the intertwined lives of the affluent Spaulding family and the working-class Bauer family over the course of multiple generations. It would remain on television until 2009, when years of steadily diminishing ratings would finally lead CBS to cancel the show after over 70 years on American airwaves. Counting its stint as a radio drama, "Guiding Light" remains the longest-running American soap opera, beating out even the ABC veteran "General Hospital," which turned 60 years old in 2023.

Since departing "Guiding Light," Kevin Bacon has built a monumental career in both television and film. But in the days of his tenure as the troubled Tim Werner, the actor was still striving to make a name for himself. Although his casting in the 1978 "National Lampoon's Animal House" made Bacon believe that he was "100% done" with his days as a struggling actor, he still faced an uphill climb before his starring role in "Footloose" would launch him into the Hollywood stratosphere.

"I went through the ... ["Animal House"] money like that. I mean, I just went right through it, had to get my job back as a waiter," Bacon told the Barstool Sports podcast The Corp in a 2019 interview. "Honestly ... it was a great lesson."

Throughout the early '80s, Bacon supported himself with a combination of restaurant jobs and appearances on soap operas such as "Guiding Light." The actor commented that his roles on the "soaps" were indeed "[his] first experience with actually getting recognized," a notable shift in his career dynamic that would propel him until his "Footloose" breakout.

Kevin Bacon later expanded his television career with starring roles in the crime thriller "The Following" and the short-lived Amazon series "The Bondsman." His most recent television foray was on the Netflix miniseries "Sirens," where he portrayed the old-moneyed billionaire Peter Kell.