This Former TV Actor, 70, Looks Unrecognizable, Sparking Reactions over Dramatic Change – Photos

A beloved TV star from the early 2000s stepped out recently looking completely transformed — and fans can't stop talking about it.

Something stopped netizens dead in their tracks when photos of a once-iconic television star surfaced online — and the reason had nothing to do with the red carpet or a comeback announcement.

The actor is seen running errands on September 23, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. | Source: Getty Images

The man in the pictures looked like someone who had long made peace with the spotlight and walked away from it entirely.

Dressed in light gray sweatpants, a gray printed T-shirt, dark-colored Crocs, and a beige fedora pulled low over dark sunglasses, the 72-year-old cut a relaxed, unhurried figure as he ran errands in Sherman Oaks, California.

The actor is seen on May 20, 2026 in Sherman Oaks, California. | Source: X/EITMonline

His red hair, once worn in a tight crop that became something of a personal trademark, now fell long around his shoulders. Fans who recognized him were stunned. The transformation from his on-screen persona was staggering.

"Wow, he looks so different," one commenter marveled. "What a difference he looks now compared to then how he looks wow [sic]," another echoed. Not everyone was fazed, though. Many rallied around the actor with warmth and good humor.

The actor | Source: X/Phyllis

"We are all getting older and there is nothing we can do about it," one follower reflected philosophically. "Looks like he's enjoying life. Good for him," another chimed in contentedly.

"He's 70 years old. Leave him be, he's only human. He doesn't need to conform to anyone's unrealistic, toxic, impossible standards of aging," a third defender wrote passionately.

The actor | Source: X/SitgesFranck

The public sighting marked a rare moment in the spotlight for someone who had, by all accounts, chosen quiet over celebrity. After his last major on-screen role ended in 2012 — playing the cool, shade-slipping Lieutenant Horatio Caine on the long-running procedural "CSI: Miami" — he stepped away from acting altogether.

He pivoted into the art world, becoming an art dealer and gallery owner, until that chapter too came to a close when the gallery space shut down in 2025.

The actor as seen in a photo posted on March 17, 2024 | Source: Instagram/artsinvegas

His road to and from fame had been anything but smooth. The actor first burst onto the scene in the early 1990s, earning a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of Detective John Kelly on "NYPD Blue" in 1994. The acclaim was swift and intoxicating — perhaps too much so.

Reports of difficult on-set behavior began to circulate almost as quickly as the praise. The show's creator, Steven Bochco, later detailed the fallout in his memoir, "Truth Is a Total Defense."

The actor poses as Detective John Kelly in "NYPD Blue" on April 19, 1993. | Source: Getty Images

His verdict was blunt:

The actor as Detective John Kelly in "NYPD Blue" on October 7, 1993. | Source: Getty Images

Bochco went further, accusing the actor of deliberately sabotaging the production to engineer his own exit:

The actor during "The Professional" Los Angeles Premiere at Academy Theatre on November 3, 1994 in Beverly Hills, California. | Source: Getty Images

The demands that followed were extraordinary.

According to Bochco, the actor's team put forward a list that included $100,000 per episode, a 38-foot trailer, an office suite on the lot with his own development executive, two hotel suites in New York when the show filmed on location, a dozen first-class plane tickets, Fridays off, and additional personal security.

The actor during the 51st Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 22, 1994 in California. | Source: Getty Images

When that package was rejected, a revised — but still sweeping — set of demands followed.

When the show refused to release him from his contract, the situation escalated into an all-out standoff. Bochco ultimately let him go and replaced him with Jimmy Smits, who, by Bochco's own account, made the show even greater.

The actor during the 51st Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 22, 1994 in California. | Source: Getty Images

The actor later acknowledged the misstep. When asked about the allegations, he offered a disarming response. "Young actors sometimes do very dumb things. I was no exception," he said, though he added that he remained grateful for the opportunities that came out of his time on "NYPD Blue."

The film career he left television for never materialized the way he had hoped. His two 1995 films — the crime thrillers "Kiss of Death" and "Jade" — both failed to make an impact, earning him a Razzie nomination for Worst New Star.

The actor the during 1995 ShoWest in Las Vegas, Nevada. | Source: Getty Images

By 1997, a TV comeback attempt with "Michael Hayes" also fizzled. He later admitted that he endured nine years of unemployment in the fallout from leaving "NYPD Blue," calling the period a hard-learned lesson in the speed at which television fame can unravel.

"CSI: Miami" became his second act — and his redemption. Debuting in 2002 as a spinoff of the CBS hit "CSI," the show ran for ten seasons and gave him cult status all over again, this time built around slow-burning one-liners and the theatrical removal of sunglasses.

The actor stars as Horatio Caine in "CSI: MIAMI" in July 2002. | Source: Getty Images

That man — the one in the sharp suit, delivering lines with deliberate gravity — is who fans were trying to reconcile with the relaxed figure in the fedora and Crocs.

The actor in those Sherman Oaks photos is David Caruso.

David Caruso stars as Horatio Caine in "CSI: MIAMI" in February 2012. | Source: Getty Images

Now 72 and largely retired from public life, Caruso appears to be living quietly, on his own terms. And if the reactions online are any indication, most people — once they got over the initial shock — seemed genuinely happy about that.