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Cosby Show star rings up NCIS role after Trader Joe's viral photo

Cha-ching! Actor Geoffrey Owens recently quit his cashiering job after a photo of him at work went viral.

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Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
CNET freelancer Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
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Gael Fashingbauer Cooper

Going viral for working as a cashier at Trader Joe's seems to have reignited interest in actor Geoffrey Owens, best known for playing Sondra Huxtable's husband Elvin Tibideaux on 1980s hit The Cosby Show. Christopher Silber, executive producer of NCIS: New Orleans, tweeted on Tuesday that Owens would be guest-starring on the CBS drama. (CBS is the parent company of CNET.)

"So excited he'll be joining our extended family," Silber wrote. "Total class act!"

Owens will play Commander Adams, an old friend consulted by Agent Dwayne "King" Pride (Scott Bakula), in an episode airing in late October, Deadline reports.

In late August, a photo of Owens working as a cashier at a New Jersey Trader Joe's went viral, and many criticized the photographer and the media outlets that published it for shaming Owens and his cashiering job.

In an interview Sept. 4 on Good Morning America, Owens said he has since quit the position, which he took for its flexibility so he could continue to pursue acting. He also said he wouldn't feel comfortable accepting an acting job offered merely because of this sudden fame, but he would be OK with it earning him an audition.

Owens was also asked via tweet to take a recurring role on Tyler Perry's OWN drama, The Haves and The Have Nots. USA Today reports that Owens will appear in 10 episodes.