lyndonlombardo: Six Degrees of Elvis Presley

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Six Degrees of Elvis Presley

Do you remember the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon that became popular in the late 90s and still enjoyed by some folks to this day. It was created by four students at Albright College in Pennsylvania who came up with the concept while watching Footloose. It was invented on the notion that any actor could be linked to Kevin Bacon through no more than six connections. Originally, connections meant appearing in a movie together, but over time it has come to include spouses, siblings, parents or children, girlfriends/boyfriends, etc.

If it takes six connections to make the chain from someone to Kevin Bacon, that person is said to have a Bacon Number of 6. Elvis has a Bacon Number of 2. It goes like this: Elvis appeared in Change of Habit with Ed Asner, and Asner appeared in JFK with Kevin Bacon. Two steps (degrees of separation) = a Bacon Number of 2.

So, let’s look at a variation of this we will call Six Degrees of Elvis. Believe it or not, we can find an Elvis/Bacon Number of 6 for this guy.

Kanye West

As scary as that connection sounds, here’s how it works.

Former beauty queen Linda Thompson was Elvis’ girlfriend for four years. She moved out of Graceland in 1976.

Elvis and Linda (in see-through dress)

Then, in 1981 Linda Thompson married former Olympic decathlon champion Bruce Jenner. They had two boys, but ultimately ended up divorcing.

Linda Thompson and Bruce Jenner – 1981

In 1991, Bruce Jenner married Kris Kardashian. They remain married to this day, and have two teenaged daughters.

Recent Photo of Bruce and Kris Jenner

Kris Jenner has three daughters from her previous marriage, including media favorite Kim Kardashian.

Kris Jenner and Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West just had a baby, although they aren’t married.

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian

So that’s the six degrees of separation between Elvis and Kanye West. Maybe it would have been smart to stop after the five degrees of separation between Elvis and Kim Kardashian. She’s a lot easier to look at than an arrogant rapper.

Speaking of good looking women, let’s go back to Linda Thompson and look at some interesting photos of her.

Linda on Jungle Room Chair

Linda and Son Brody Jenner

Autographed Glamour Photo

Linda Thompson at 58

Elvis and Linda – 1975 or 76

If you’ve ever played six degrees of separation between Elvis and another star, e-mail your successful connection to philarnold@charter.net. If enough come in, we’ll look at them on an ElvisBlog post.