OWENS
Geoffrey

• 1. Career
• 1.1. Teaching

Geoffrey Louis Owens 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.

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.

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.

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 ... Alvin sic". In the season 7 episode "Frank's Pretty Woman" he plays the same character, this time pretending to be Tiger Woods. 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.

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.

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.

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

In 2015, he acted in an episode of the NBC drama series The Slap.

In 2017, he portrayed an assistant dean on the FOX drama series Lucifer, in an episode entitled "Deceptive Little Parasite".

In 2018, photos of Owens working in a Trader Joe's were published by The Daily Mail, which many characterized as "job shaming." Owens agreed with the "job shaming" characterization, eventually quitting due to the unwanted attention. The story led producer Tyler Perry to offer Owens a ten-episode role in The Haves and the Have Nots. Owens also booked a guest-starring role on NCIS: New Orleans and supporting roles in the films Fatale and Hide and Seek. In 2024, Owens revealed ongoing career and financial challenges.

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. 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.