Actor Geoffrey Owens jokes about having to take a job working at Trader Joe's while appearing at the Screen Actors Guild Awards
Former Cosby Show star Geoffrey Owens, known for his role as Elvin Tibideaux, on The Cosby Show, made headlines last September 2018 after a fan spotted him working at a Trader Joe’s supermarket (which he worked at for about 15 months) in Clifton, New Jersey. Episodes of the Cosby Show were yanked from TV syndication which hurt Owen's royalty checks due to Bill Cosby's sexual misconduct scandal, which he was being sentenced 3 to 10 years in prison for drugging and sexually assaulting a former Temple University women’s basketball coach Andrea Constand.
Despite the social media shaming, that helped get him back with guest roles on CBS’s NCIS: New Orleans and Showtime’ Billions, and others.
“Somewhere in the middle of the road of my life, I found myself in the dark wood of unemployment and debt,” Owens said. “But instead of switching careers like a sane person, I took a job at a local Trader Joe’s to see if I could hang in there with my career. And, um, it’s actually worked out pretty well. I’m Geoffrey Owens, and I am an actor.”