Geoffrey Owens

Geoffrey Louis Owens (born March 18, 1961) is an American actor known for his role as Elvin Tibideaux on The Cosby Show (1985–1992). He is the son of the United States Congressman Major Owens.

Early life and education

Owens was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Ethel (née Werfel), a music and literature teacher, and Major Owens, a librarian who later went on to serve in the New York State Senate and the United States House of Representatives.<ref name="Baker1987">Template:Cite news Template:Free access</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He has two brothers and two half-siblings from his father's second marriage.<ref name="Baker1987"/> Owens attended the High School of Performing Arts for a year and graduated cum laude from Yale University in 1983.<ref name="Filichia2010">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Career

One of Owens's earliest roles was in an Arcata High School theater performance where he played the title role in a performance of Peter Pan. This initial outing was what galvanized him to become an actor later in life.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1985, Owens made his television debut on the second season of the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show as Sondra Huxtable's boyfriend Elvin Tibideaux. Tibideaux married Sondra and became a regular character in 1987 and appeared on the series until it ended in 1992.<ref name="Baker1987"/><ref>Template:Cite news Template:Free access</ref>

He has appeared as a lawyer on season 6 episode 1 of Elementary. He has appeared as himself on the FX sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. In the season 3 episode "The Gang Gets Invincible" he appears at the Philadelphia Eagles' public tryouts as an actor pretending to be Donovan McNabb doing a plug for McDonald's but the gang recognize him as "that guy from The Cosby Show" who played "Sondra's husband ... Template:Sic". In the season 7 episode "Frank's Pretty Woman" he plays the same character, this time pretending to be Tiger Woods.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Dee, however, recognizes him and calls him out as the guy who pretended to be McNabb at the Eagles' tryouts. He then admits he is not Tiger Woods but then claims to be actor Don Cheadle. In the second episode of Season 15, "The Gang Makes Lethal Weapon 7", he appears as the same character, but is given the role to play as Roger Murtaugh in the gang’s Lethal Weapon 7 movie.

In 2007, Owens guest-starred as Eddie's father in the That's So Raven episode "The Way We Were". He also appeared on the season premiere of NBC's Las Vegas.Template:Citation needed

In 2008, he appeared alongside Paul Campbell, Andy Griffith, Doris Roberts, Liz Sheridan, Marla Sokoloff and Juliette Jeffers in the romantic comedy Play The Game.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2010, he appeared on ABC Family's The Secret Life of the American Teenager as a court-appointed mediator. He also appeared on the ABC show FlashForward in the episode "The Garden of Forking Paths", playing a researcher.<ref name="TVGuide">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2011, Owens portrayed the role of Casca at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in its Free-For-All production of Julius Caesar.Template:Citation needed

In 2015, he acted in an episode of the NBC drama series The Slap.<ref name=HP>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2017, he portrayed an assistant dean on the FOX drama series Lucifer, in an episode entitled "Deceptive Little Parasite".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2018, photos of Owens working in a Trader Joe's were published by The Daily Mail, which many characterized as "job shaming."<ref name="Germain">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Owens agreed with the "job shaming" characterization, eventually quitting due to the unwanted attention.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The story led producer Tyler Perry to offer Owens a ten-episode role in The Haves and the Have Nots.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Geoffrey Owens: 'Job-shamed' Cosby Show star lands TV role BBC News. September 7, 2018. Retrieved September 7, 2018.</ref> Owens also booked a guest-starring role on NCIS: New Orleans and supporting roles in the films Fatale and Hide and Seek.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>‘Hide And Seek’: Former ‘Cosby Show’ Star Geoffrey Owens Joins CJ Entertainment Horror Remake</ref> In 2024, Owens revealed ongoing career and financial challenges.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2020, he starred in the film Impossible Monsters, where he played a police detective. "I’m usually cast as dads, lawyers, doctors, teachers, and so to play a detective it was really fun," he said.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He played a supporting role in Power Book II: Ghost.

Teaching

Owens is the founder and artistic director of The Brooklyn Shakespeare Company. He has taught acting and Shakespeare at Columbia University, Yale, Stella Adler Studio of Acting, the Adult School of Montclair and Pace University. In addition to developing his own private Shakespeare workshop, he has been a guest teacher at universities, theaters, studios, and middle and high schools in the New York metropolitan area. He has also served as a judge for the National Shakespeare Competition semi-finals at Lincoln Center for at least 25 years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

In 1995, Owens married his wife, Josette. Together they have one son.<ref name="Filichia2010"/>

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	The Paper	Lou
1995	The Amistad Revolt: All We Want Is Make Us Free	Joseph Cinqué (voice)	Short
1999	Stonebrook	Marty
	Forgiven	Stan	Short
2001	The Cross	Featured Apostle
2009	Play the Game	Rob Marcus
2010	Sami's Cock	-	Short
2011	Wilde Salomé	Tigellinus
2013	Dreams	Mr. Welch
2014	Romeo and Juliet	Prince Escalus
2016	Youth in Oregon	Dr. Roma
2019	Impossible Monsters	Jacobs
	klutz.	Harold	Short
2020	Hibiscus	Tad
	Victor in Paradise	Simon	Short
	Fizzle	Man Who Sneezes	Short
	Fatale	Bill Cranepool
2021	Hide and Seek	Lyle
2022	Somewhere in Queens	Scotty
	Susie Searches	President Andrews
2023	Ezra	Robert Segal
2024	Taxon	Ray	Short
	Mr. Santa: A Christmas Extravaganza	Mr. Santa
2025	Nonnas	Phil
2025	A Merry Little Ex-Mas	Daryl

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985–92	The Cosby Show	Elvin Tibideaux	Recurring Cast: Season 2-3, Main Cast: Season 4-8
1990	ABC Afterschool Special	Mr. Singer	Episode: "Stood Up!"
1997	Built to Last	Robert Watkins	Main Cast
1999	Law & Order	Langer	Episode: "Refuge: Part 2"
2002	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Dr. Constantino	Episode: "Dolls"
2007	That's So Raven	Michael Thomas	Episode: "The Way They Were"
	The Wedding Bells	Dr. Harris	Episode: "The Most Beautiful Girl"
	Boston Legal	Dr. Mitch Morris	Episode: "Beauty and the Beast"
	Las Vegas	Dr. Eric Haber	Episode: "Shrink Rap"
	The Journeyman	Matthew Tarbell	Episode: "The Year of the Rabbit"
2007–21	It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia	Various Roles	Guest Cast: Season 3 & 7 & 15
2008	Medium	Unemployment Evaluator	Recurring Cast: Season 4
	I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant	Hospital Staff	Episode: "Special #1"
	Without a Trace	Jay Costas	Episode: "Live to Regret"
2010	FlashForward	Dr. Julian Ebbing	Episode: "The Garden of Forking Paths"
2010–11	The Secret Life of the American Teenager	Mediator/Judge	Guest Cast: Season 2-3
2014	The Leftovers	Kind Man	Episode: "The Prodigal Son Returns"
	The Affair	Victor	Episode: "Episode #1.10"
2015	The Slap	Dr. Fletcher	Episode: "Richie"
	Deadbeat	Arthur	Episode: "Table for Sue"
2016	Divorce	Gerald	Recurring Cast: Season 1
2017	Blue Bloods	Sergeant Weller	Episode: "Love Lost"
	Lucifer	Assistant Dean	Episode: "Deceptive Little Parasite"
	The Blacklist	Dresner	Episode: "The Endling (No. 44)"
2018	Elementary	Vernon Fisk	Episode: "An Infinite Capacity for Taking Pains"
	NCIS: New Orleans	Commander Calvin Atkins	Episode: "Pound of Flesh"
2019	Billions	Abington	Episode: "Maximum Recreational Depth"
	On Becoming a God in Central Florida	Pastor Steve	Recurring Cast
2020	Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet	Tom	Episode: "A Dark Quiet Death"
	Power	Daniel Warren	Recurring Cast: Season 6
	Bless This Mess	Pastor Paul	Recurring Cast: Season 2
2020–21	The Haves and the Have Nots	Conley	Recurring Cast: Season 7-8
2020–22	Power Book II: Ghost	Daniel Warren	Guest: Season 1, Recurring Cast: Season 2
2021	That Damn Michael Che	Thurgood Carver	Recurring Cast: Season 1
	The Good Fight	Daniel	Recurring Cast: Season 5
2022	New Amsterdam	Chris/Santa	Episode: "Talkin' Bout a Revolution"
	The Rookie	Graham Scott	Episode: "Coding"
	Bull	Judge Westlake	Episode: "Opening Up"
2022–23	All Rise	Carl Brewer	Recurring Cast: Season 3
2024	Ghosts	Gene	Episode: “The Polterguest”
	Poppa's House	J. J. Fulton	Recurring Cast
	QueenDom PI	Bruno	Episode: "Do You Speak Bulgarian?"
2025	The Night Agent	Patrick Knox	Episode: "A Good Agent"

External links

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