Geoffrey Owens

Geoffrey Louis Owens is an American actor known for his role as Elvin Tibideaux on The Cosby Show. He is the son of former United States Congressman Major Owens.

One of Owen's earliest roles was in a local theater performance at Arcata High School 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. He married Sondra and became a regular character in 1987 and appeared on the series until it ended in 1992.

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 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 portrayed an obstetrician on the NBC drama series The Slap, in an episode entitled "Ritchie".

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

Owens is the founder and artistic director of The Brooklyn Shakespeare Company. He has taught acting and Shakespeare at Columbia University, Yale, 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 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 twenty-five years.