Jeff Garlin has described experiencing a mental health crisis during the turmoil surrounding his departure from The Goldbergs. The actor says friends and family helped him get professional care when he feared for his life.
Garlin, 64, discussed that period on the October 21 episode of Ted Danson’s podcast Where Everybody Knows Your Name. The conversation was the second installment of their interview.
He had played Murray Goldberg, the father in ABC’s family comedy, since its 2013 premiere. His other longtime television role was Jeff Greene, Larry David’s manager and friend on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Looking back, Garlin called the ABC job a gift he hadn’t appreciated. He described feeling deeply unhappy even while working on a successful series, and struggling to understand changes in his behavior.
Susie Essman Contacted His Loved Ones When He Needed Help
Garlin said his former wife, Marla, and girlfriend, Sari, had accompanied him to a psychiatrist who diagnosed bipolar disorder. He was 59 when he received the diagnosis. Later in his account, he described a workplace confrontation followed by what he called a nervous breakdown.
He reached out to Curb costar Susie Essman and told her he was in immediate danger. According to his recollection, covered by People, Essman contacted Marla and Sari. They then enlisted his close friend Brad Morris, who stayed with him while they researched treatment options.
Garlin chose a facility in Cincinnati, where he learned dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT. He said the treatment helped him move beyond the immediate suicidal crisis.
His Departure Followed Complaints About His Conduct on Set
ABC confirmed Garlin’s exit in December 2021. TheWrap reported that people familiar with the situation described the decision as mutual between Garlin and producer Sony Pictures Television.
Earlier that month, Vanity Fair reported allegations from former employees about inappropriate language and unwanted physical contact, including hugs. Garlin acknowledged repeated HR inquiries, defended disputed remarks as jokes and denied a physical altercation. He also said he hadn’t realized some colleagues were uncomfortable with his hugs.
In the new podcast, Garlin said producers had accepted his request for a raise and a schedule requiring him on set one day a week. He believed colleagues resented the arrangement.
His account of the workplace has drawn disagreement. In September, Wendi McLendon-Covey responded after he described her as resentful in a separate interview. “Let’s just say I remember things very differently, as does the crew, the other actors, the writers, and our executives,” she wrote, as documented by Us Weekly.
Garlin Says Feeling Better Took Years
After residential treatment, Garlin continued therapy and took medication for bipolar disorder. He also listed Alcoholics Anonymous, boxing, attention to his physical health and creative work among the things that became part of his life.
“I’m just now feeling really good,” he told Danson, according to Entertainment Weekly. He placed the crisis roughly five years earlier and said he had continued experiencing difficult periods afterward.
Garlin described feeling content and creatively fulfilled now. He spoke warmly about his girlfriend, children, former wife and friends, acknowledging the relationships that remained important to him through treatment.
His Photography Book Included a Charity Presale
One project he mentioned was Best Seat in the House: Moments No One Asked Me to Capture…But I Did Anyway, published September 15. The collection pairs Garlin’s candid photographs with stories gathered in conversation with Sam Fragoso and includes a foreword by Bob Odenkirk.
Publisher Rizzoli also organized a limited campaign benefiting Comedy Gives Back, which provides mental health and crisis support to the comedy community. It pledged a portion of proceeds from signed copies ordered through Rizzoli Bookstore between April 20 and May 23 to the organization.