William Rufus Shafter

William Rufus Shafter was a Major General in the United States Army. Fort Shafter, Hawaii is named for him. He took part in the Spanish-American War

Since he appeared in two early films, he is listed as the "actor" with the biggest known finite Bacon number. He has a Bacon number of 10:

William Rufus Shafter was in Surrender of General Toral (1898) with Joseph Wheeler.
Joseph Wheeler was in General Wheeler and Secretary of War Alger at Camp Wikoff (1898) with Russell Alexander Alger.
Russell Alexander Alger was in President McKinley's Inspection of Camp Wikoff (1898) with William McKinley.
William McKinley was in President McKinley and Escort Going to the Capitol (1901) with Nelson Miles.
Nelson Miles was in The Indian Wars (1914) with William F. Cody.
William F. Cody was in Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Pawnee Bill's Far East (1910) with Major Gordon W. 'Pawnee Bill' Lillie.
Major Gordon W. 'Pawnee Bill' Lillie was in In the Days of the Thundering Herd (1914) with Wheeler Oakman.
Wheeler Oakman was in Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938) with Jerry Gardner.
Jerry Gardner was in Natural Born Killers (1994) with Pruitt Taylor Vince.
Pruitt Taylor Vince was in 24 Hours (2002) with Kevin Bacon.

The average Rufus Shafter number is 10.182, with 86% of film actors having a Rufus Shafter number of 10 or 11. The highest known finite Rufus Shafter number is 16, possessed by seven (as yet unknown) actors. The lowest known nonzero Rufus Shafter number is 1, possessed by just one actor, Joseph Wheeler. There is also only one actor with a Rufus Shafter number of 2, Russell A. Alger.

As of July 12, 2003 William F. Cody's Bacon number has dropped to three, apparently due to new information rather than new movies. This has dropped Rufus Shafter's Bacon number to 8, and he is no longer unique. See this page for details.

See also: