Outrage over photos showing The Cosby Show actor working at US grocery chain

HE WAS on our screens constantly during the ’80s and ’90s, but these days, former Cosby Show star Geoffrey Owens has a very different career.

The 57-year-old, who played Sondra Huxtable’s husband Elvin Tibideaux in the hit sitcom, was recently spotted by shopper Karma Lawrence working at a New Jersey branch of the US grocery chain Trader Joe’s.

The woman was so surprised by her discovery she snapped a photo of the startled-looking actor wearing a Trader Joe’s uniform complete with a name-tag which read “Geoffrey”.

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Ms Lawrence told the Daily Mail she was surprised to see the former star working at the store, where staff are believed to earn around $US11 ($A15) an hour.

“I used to watch The Cosby Show all the time — it was my favourite show. It was definitely him,” Ms Lawrence told the publication.

“I would have thought after The Cosby Show he would maybe be doing something different.

“It was a shock to see him working there and looking the way he did. It made me feel really bad. I was like, “Wow, all those years of doing the show and you ended up as a cashier.’”

Ms Lawrence’s photos quickly went viral, and news of Mr Owens’ “$11-an-hour supermarket job” quickly made headlines across the globe.

However, the photos have also sparked significant outrage, with many claiming the actor, who has also appeared on It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia and That’s So Raven, was being publicly “shamed” for taking on a second job to pay the bills.

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