Mandy Patinkin shaves off his signature beard

NEW YORK, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Actor Mandy Patinkin, who usually sports a bushy beard, appeared clean-shaven on "Live! with Kelly and Michael" in New York.

Patinkin, 61, is the star of TV's "Homeland."

"I shaved it the minute I finished the last shot!" UsMagazine.com reported Patinkin said Thursday, referring to the last scene he worked on for the show's third season finale. "I felt like I was taking off a Mickey Mouse mask."

He went on to say he "felt about 20 years younger" after he shaved.

"The thing I loved most about it is once the show got more and more successful, wherever I go people would go, 'Saul, Saul!' I'd be in an airport in a foreign country and people would say, 'Sa-ul, Sa-ul!' And I took it off and, like, nobody knows me," he said. "This is what real life is like!"

He went on to say he intends to grow his beard back for Season 4 of the series, which is to air on Showtime next year.

"It'll come back, you know," he said of his facial hair.