Everyone assumes that actors, musicians, and other performing artists are all rich!
Only a few become lead actors of Hollywood hits! Only a few become pop stars with decades worth of mega-hits!
Very few even come close to that status.
Some might achieve their 1 or 2 years of being semi-famous but are quickly forgotten. The money that they made in those 1 or 2 years is not enough to live off on for a lifetime.
They still need to pay their bills somehow!
Geoffrey Owens once appeared in a minor role in the hit TV show starring Bill Cosby!
Bill Cosby was not only the lead actor but also an executive producer, getting more than enough money to cover up his misdeeds for a long time!
Geoffrey Owens, however, didn't have enough consistent gigs after the Cosby sitcom series ended!
This is NORMAL for most actors!
To pay his bills, Owens took a retail job at Trader Joe's.
Erin Donnelly, “'Cosby Show' Star Geoffrey Owens Reacts to Controversy About His Trader Joe's Job: 'I Was Really Devastated,” Yahoo, September 4, 2018,
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/former-cosby-show-star-geoffrey-owens-responds-controversy-trader-joes-job-really-devastated-131548777.html
from the article
Owens credited the supermarket chain, where he worked for 15 months, with giving him the flexibility to work shifts around his acting career. He noted that many of his acting jobs are short-term, requiring a backup source of income.
“I’ve been teaching, acting, directing for 30-plus years, but it got to a point where it just didn’t add up enough,” he said. “You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.
“I didn’t advertise that I was at Trader Joe’s, not that I was ashamed of it but because I didn’t want the entertainment community deciding, ‘Well, he’s doing that, he’s not pursuing acting anymore.’ I felt like I had to be careful about that.”
My facebook post on that issue
Most actors/musicians or any performing artists don't really make big money. Even when they get some fame, for many, the gigs that give them fame doesn't last forever, and the chump change they make sure doesn't last forever! They have to earn income in between gigs!
I can relate for many reasons.
For one, I'm a digital musician who release instrumental tracks independently. (look up Pablo the Mad Tiger Warrior! That's me)
No major label behind my stuff, and therefore not much promotion budget to advertise my tracks.
Some people have bought my tracks on iTunes, but not enough to pay my rent!
But I keep working at it because making digital music is my passion! I also want to make up for lost time!
I had bills to pay and didn't have much left-over to buy the music equipment I wanted until a few years ago when I finally got my own computer. By then, technology has caught up where the average person can go on the computer to make instrumental tracks without playing instruments and without using very complicated equipment!
And that's the thing!
We all have dreams, but sometimes, they take a back seat to getting the bills paid NOW!
So we take jobs that we would've considered Plan B or Plan C! When times get desperate, we even have to resort to Plan Z!
I've been lucky to be able to stick with substitute teaching for 13 years and to have a demand for my labor during certain times of the year. Certain times, the demand is so high that I can't satisfy all of it (ie 5 teachers from different schools have asked me to sub for their class on the same day. I can only be at one place at a time). Other times, school is on vacation, so I have to take side jobs including but not limited to retail, clerical, manual labor, and promotional sign waving (I worked on my Dre Day dance moves for that one 🤣🤣🤣)
I've worked part-time at libraries in the past. I majored in Library & Info Science (LIS)! I have been applying for full-time library work. So far, no luck on that one
I got bills to pay! I can't just wait for Plan A or Plan B to pan out! I have to roll with opportunities that are available now!
Luckily, I haven't yet had to resort to working in a restaurant, sanitation, construction or any other job that would feel "hell on earth" to me! But I respect those who do such jobs because somebody needs to get it done!
But when I have time, I make my music, and make promotional artwork, and make "no-budget videos" (basically a series of still images because I have no money to pay directors, actors, etc) to promote my music!
I might be too old to be a teen idol, but I'm not giving up my musical dreams. I got an album of new instrumental tracks coming soon! Stay tuned!
