Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick
Actors Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick are pictured. Reuters

Kevin Bacon and wife, Kyra Sedgwick, have lost a close family friend: their beloved pet pooch, Paulie.

Bacon posted a photo of their dog on the celebrity Web site WhoSay.com and tweeted a link with the sad announcement. Paulie 1999-2012, he wrote. Sleep well old friend.

Sedgwick tweeted her thanks for supporters who showed their love.

I so deeply appreciate the kind words about Paulie, she tweeted.

Paulie was a black Lab mix the couple got from a veterinarian in 1999 when he was still a puppy. He was named after the brother-in-law of the famous movie character Rocky Balboa.

It made no sense, Sedgwick told People magazine in 2009. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. He looked like this little tough guy who the second he came into our apartment wreaked havoc.

Bacon gushed about Paulie in a Q&A interview with actress and fellow dog lover Glenn Close for her Lively Licks blog, featured on the Web site FetchDog.com.

The wife and kids brought him home without my knowing and he was there when I got off the road, he said. I couldn't take him back and we have become best friends.