Geoffrey Owens
Quick Facts
Biography
Geoffrey Owens (born March 18, 1961 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American actor and director, known for The Cosby Show (1984), The Paper (1994) and Play the Game (2009). He is the son of former United States Congressman Major Owens. He currently teaches an acting class at HB Studio in New York City.
Roles
One of Owen's earliest roles was in a local theater performance at Arcata High School where he played the role of Peter Pan in a performance of Peter Pan. This initial outing was what galvanized him to become an actor later in life.
Owens is perhaps most remembered for his role as Elvin Tibideaux, husband of Sondra Huxtable on the final five seasons (1985–1992) of NBC's sitcom The Cosby Show.
He guest starred as Eddie's father in the That's So Raven episode "The Way We Were". He has also 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 Donavan McNabb at the Eagles' tryouts. He then admits he is not Tiger Woods but then claims to be actor Don Cheadle.
He also made an appearance on the season premiere of NBC's Las Vegas on September 28, 2007.
In 2008, Owens appeared alongside Paul Campbell, Andy Griffith, Doris Roberts, Liz Sheridan, Marla Sokoloff and Juliette Jeffers in the romantic comedy Play The Game.
In 2010, Owens 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, Owens portrayed an Obstetrician on the NBC drama series The Slap, in an episode entitled "Ritchie".