Acting icon who starred in Eddie Murphy's Beverly Hills Cop before pivoting to music spotted on his 88th birthday

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A Hollywood legend whose career spans five decades after getting his big break in Deliverance was spotted out on his 88th birthday. 

You might recognize this acting icon for his roles in two of Eddie Murphy's Beverly Hills Cop films, Total Recall, and RoboCop. 

Or perhaps you saw him on the small screen, wowing audiences as a lieutenant on Star Trek and a serial killer cryptically named 'Tooth Fairy' in Dexter.  

Yet last week he proved celebrities are just like anyone else as he tended to a routine errand on his birthday. 

Wearing a Route 66 cap and doing outdoor maintenance, few would guess he is someone who has graced the big and small screens countless times. 

But are you able to guess who this star is?

A Hollywood legend whose career spans four decades was spotted out on his 88th birthday... can you guess who this star is?

If you guessed Ronny Cox, you're correct!

Cox was spotted in LA on July 23, wearing a red long-sleeve shirt, slacks and trainers as he tended to a household chore in Los Angeles. 

The Daily Mail has contacted a representative for Cox for comment.  

Now in his 80s, Cox remains active in Hollywood with a slew of hit projects under his belt, from Murder, She Wrote, Desperate Housewives, Total Recall, and more.

The success started pouring in when Cox made his big screen debut in Deliverance, the 1972 film also starring Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, and Ned Beatty.

A struggling actor who was raising young children, the role changed Cox's life and marked the beginning of bigger things. 

'It sounds cliché, but it was life-changing for me,' he told the AV Club in 2022. 'My wife Mary was a Ph.D. chemist from Georgetown and then had a four-year post-doc with Sloan Kettering in New York, doing cancer research. 

'I was a struggling New York actor and a stay-at-home dad a lot of the time. When I got Deliverance, I’d never made more than $6,000 in one year. It changed our lives drastically because Mary and I had two small boys, too.' 

That all changed with Cox eventually becoming one of the world's top actors. 

 If you guessed actor Ronny Cox, you're correct!

Cox's accomplished acting career includes a role in the comedy Beverly Hills Cop 

Cox, pictured R, got his big break in the 1972 film Deliverance

He was spotted tending to a routine errand on his birthday

Cox was not immediately recognizable as the talented star as he stepped out in a Route 66 hat, red shirt, and slacks

'I hate to be bragging too much, but there was a time there where I was in every film made,' he told the AV Club. 'There was a period between the early/middle ’80s and late ’90s where they used to keep track of the top actors in the world. 

'This sounds self-aggrandizing, but they kept track of the top 100 actors, and the way they kept score was with the actors who’d been in the movies that made the most money. I was number 49 out of 100. I did a lot of stuff.'

Indeed, Cox's IMDb resume is nearly endless. 

He played Lieutenant Andrew Bogomil in the 1984 flick Beverly Hills Cop and its sequel, Beverly Hills Cop 2, portrayed Capt. Edward Jellico in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and nabbed a slew of other roles in big name projects. 

Now 88 years old, Cox remains active in Hollywood with a slew of hit projects under his belt, from Murder, She Wrote, Desperate Housewives, Total Recall, and more 

Cox got his big break in the star-studded 1972 film Deliverance, a movie he said changed his life

Cox was moving garbage cans to their appropriate spots 

'There was a time there where I was in every film made,' Cox, pictured far R on the set of Beverly Hills Cop 2, told AV Club

The sci-fi film RoboCop was a big 'boon' to his career, he recalled

Cox achieved new heights when he landed the role of the villainous Dick Jones in the Arnold Schwarzenegger-led film RoboCop - a turning point in his career. 

'Deliverance was my big breakout, but in many ways, RoboCop was as big a boon to my career,' he told the AV Club. 

In recent years, Cox has switched his focus to making music, releasing 11 albums and embarking on a slew of tours around the globe.

It's a passion Cox has called his 'first love' and one he now prioritizes over acting. 

'Most people know of my acting career, but not so many know of my life-long love and dedication to music,' he wrote on his website. 'These days, I spend less time acting and more time as a singer-songwriter performing at folk festivals, concert venues and small intimate theaters all over the United States. 

'Music is my first love, and allows me a really special connection to audiences – a connection that works both ways.' 

'I’d just rather play music these days,' he told The Wichita Eagle in 2012. 'I won’t let any movie or television show interfere with any gig that I have booked. They have to work around me or I won’t take it.'

Cox released his autobiography, Dueling Banjos: The Deliverance of Drew, in 2012. 

He was married to his childhood friend, Mary Cox, from 1960 until she died in 2006. They had two sons together.

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