Geoffrey Owens took a job at a supermarket last year (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/RexShutterstock)
The Cosby Show star Geoffrey Owens spoke of the ‘dark world of unemployment and debt’ he found himself in as acting work dried up as he made an appearance at the Screen Actors Guild awards.
The actor hit the headlines last year when he was photographed working packing groceries in a Los Angeles branch of the supermarket Trader Joe’s.
He was treated to a thunderous round of applause as he took part in the traditional “I Am An Actor” segment that traditionally opens the show.
He said in his monologue: “Somewhere in the middle of the road of my life, I found myself in the dark wood of unemployment and debt, 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 it’s actually worked out pretty well.
“I’m Geoffrey Owens and I am an actor.”
Owens found fame as Elvin Tibideaux in The Cosby Show and, since the photographs of him in the supermarket emerged, has been offered roles in NCIS: New Orleans, The Haves And Have Nots and the movies Fatale and Hide And Seek.
The Cosby Show’s Geoffrey Owens tells of ‘dark world of debt’ in SAG speech
