Burt Reynolds, 82, Sports Cane in New Uncharacteristically Frail Photo

Even the brightest stars sometimes fade a little. Actor Burt Reynolds looked almost unrecognizable [...]

Even the brightest stars sometimes fade a little. Actor Burt Reynolds looked almost unrecognizable from his heyday of a chest-thumping action hero this week.

The 82-year-old double Golden Globe winner seemed frail as he made his way through New York's JFK airport using a cane. See the photo here.

The Deliverance and Boogie Nights star, who began acting after injuries ended a promising football career, has blamed his stunts for his limited mobility in his old age.

"I did all my own stunts, which is why I can't walk very well now. At certain times in the morning I regret it, trying to get out of bed," he said on ITV's Jonathan Ross Show in 2015. "I can point to certain places and know it's from certain pictures."

The twice-divorced playboy, who has dated stars like Farrah Fawcett and Goldie Hawn, added, "It's very embarrassing if you're with a woman and you go to throw her over the other side of the bed and your knee goes out."

In April 2017, Reynolds was so tired at a screening of his film Dog Years at the Tribeca Film Festival that he required a stool in addition to his cane on the red carpet.

He had already been using a cane, as well as leaning on his co-star, Ariel Winter, for physical support.

Reynolds will appear as an aging actor in the upcoming film The Last Movie Star, which goes on limited release later this month.

The role, written specifically for him, follows much of his own career arc — from college football player to hunky leading man to faded star.

That type of film has become a patten in Reynolds' filmography as of late, as Dog Years was also about a tale of an aging former movie star forced to face the reality that his glory days are behind him.

In the cross-generational comedy, Reynolds and Winter shared an emotional scene in which Reynolds' character tells Winter's character a story about his proposal to his first wife and how his perfect moment was ruined — but also a memorable moment for the pair. See it here.

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