'Cosby' actor not alone: Day jobs, low stipends among financial realities of being an actor

CHICAGO - "Geoffrey Owens, a former actor on 'The Cosby Show,' found himself at the center of the news cycle when shoppers captured photos of him working at a New Jersey Trader Joe's," Entertainment Weekly reported this week.

Let's move past the gawping and apparent shock some had at the idea of a recognizable actor working a non-glamorous job and talk about the financial realities of being an actor. Because except for a lucky few earning top dollars, it is a fickle industry and profession where there are lulls between jobs, even for talented performers.

Audiences, I suspect, have no concept of what actors get paid - and the assumption that they all get paid well just isn't true.

A few years ago I spoke with theater actors in Chicago - specifically non-Equity actors performing at storefront theaters - about what it means to earn little-to-no money