DEAR STACY: I was explaining the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" idea to a friend of mine, and realized I don't know how that got started. Could you fill me in? Also, what does Kevin Bacon think of it? — Barbara L., Pasadena, California

DEAR BARBARA: Three students at Albright College, Craig Fass, Brian Turtle and Mike Ginelli, came up with the game idea during a snowstorm, having watched two Kevin Bacon movies back-to-back ("Footloose," and "The Air Up There"). Taking their cue from the concept of six degrees of separation — that says any person can be connected to any other person on earth within six relationships — the students posited that any actor could be linked to the prolific Bacon within six connections. The game took off when they talked about it on Jon Stewart's show and Howard Stern's show, and got Bacon to come along. A book and a board game followed. Bacon admitted that he initially disliked the idea, feeling a bit like the brunt of a joke, but he came to value becoming a universal symbol of interconnectedness. (Did you know that the most highly connected nodes on the internet are known as Kevin Bacons?) Bacon himself utilized his iconic status with a Visa commercial and the founding of his SixDegrees.org foundation that empowers good causes through connectedness. The YouthAIDS charity (Ashley Judd), Operation Smile (Jessica Simpson) and the National Resources Defense Council (Bacon's wife, Kyra Sedgwick) are among those that have benefitted.

DEAR STACY: Please settle a bet among co-workers. I insist that Clint Eastwood, despite his many affairs and children by different women, has only been married two times. My office mates don't believe me. We have found differing answers on the internet. Tell them I know what I'm talking about. — Starbrite7

DEAR STARBRITE7: You know what you're talking about. Eastwood's first marriage, to Maggie Johnson, lasted 31 years, despite his having had affairs through most of it. His second marriage, to Dina Ruiz, lasted from 1996 to 2014, though they had been living separately for years by the time the divorce was finalized. He was never married to high profile partners Frances Fisher or Sondra Locke.

DEAR STACY: Who is Miley Cyrus' mother? — Anonymous Fan 2017

DEAR ANONYMOUS FAN: Tish Cyrus, nee Leticia Jean Finley, 50, credited as a producer on several of Miley's movies, and has been married to Billy Ray Cyrus since 1993. She and the eldest of her five children by two marriages, Brandi, debuted their Bravo series, "Cyrus vs. Cyrus: Design and Conquer," this past May.

DEAR STACY: Drug ads on TV are very annoying. Why do they have to include all the disgusting possible side effects? In the dinner hour, no less!. — Beverly H., Lake Elsinore, CA

DEAR BEVERLY: The Food and Drug Administration requires pharmaceutical companies to name all the side effects listed in the drug's prescribing information if the ad mentions both the brand name and what it's used for. They get a pass if the ad mentions only the brand name or only that there's a medication for a condition without naming the drug. Much as you and I — and lots of other people — dislike them, the ads are effective. For every dollar spent on ads for drugs, a reported four dollars are earned retail sales. And one study showed that new drugs advertised directly to consumers are prescribed nine times more than their nonadvertised counterparts.