When is 'Old Man' capitalized, if ever?

Solution 1:

Examples where you would capitalize "old man":

When part of the name someone is known by:

Old Man McCourt, Old Man Hodges, etc. (but be careful about using the "nickname" as part of direct address)

When part of the official name of something:

Old Man of the Mountain
Old Man of the Sea

When part of a title:

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
"Old Man" by Neil Young.

Note that you will always capitalize "Old" at the beginning of a sentence, but "man" will not necessarily follow suit.

Examples where you would NOT capitalize "old man":

When you are simply applying the adjective old to the noun man:

James lived to be a very old man.
An old man should have acquired wisdom from his many years of life.

When you are talking (informally) about a father or a husband:

Have you seen my old man? He said he was going to meet me here.

When you are using direct address:

Hey, old man, your daughter is looking for you.
Old man take a look at my life / I'm a lot like you were