Top 5 celebs who stuck around too long

By now it’s crystal clear George Lucas’ creative tank is running on fumes, to be generous. Whatever storytelling gifts he once had have long since vanished. His casting choices alone for the “Star Wars” prequels taught us that - where have you gone, Jake Lloyd?

But he’s not the first celebrity to hang around the spotlight too long.

Here’s five more actors who should have exited, stage left, before they embarrassed themselves and sullied their once-great careers.

1. Burt Reynolds: This one hurts. Reynolds was The Man when I was growing up. He was so cool he could walk through “Stroker Ace” and two “Cannonball Runs” with his image, and box office appeal, intact. He enjoyed a career rebirth with “Boogie Nights,” but couldn’t find a follow-up vehicle to ride his second chance. Instead, he appears to have gone the Joan Rivers route, going under the knife until his face became more mask than emotive tool.
2. Gary Busey: Remember “The Buddy Holly Story?” Great performance, but Busey’s career hit a weird patch shortly thereafter and never fully recovered. Today, he’s a very odd presence on various reality show projects, and his biggest claim to recent fame is co-starring in a deeply anti-American movie, “Valley of the Wolves: Iraq.”
3. Faye Dunaway: Her performance - and striking beauty - in “Bonnie & Clyde” cemented her stardom. But she hasn’t had a decent role in ages, and her appearance in that awful reality series, “The Starlet,” should have never happened.
4. Randy Quaid: Dennis’ older brother earned a place in comic immortality with his “Vacation” movie appearances. But he hasn’t made a decent flick in ages, and he picked a fight with the team behind the one good project he attached himself to - “Brokeback Mountain.”
5. Lucille Ball: The iconic actress could have, and should have, retired as one of Hollywood’s finest comic talents. Instead, she tried to relive her glory days in the abominable sitcom “Life with Lucy.”