The Goldbergs True Story: What Each Character Looks Like In Real-Life (2024)

ABC's The Goldbergs is a loose biographical retelling of Adam F. Goldberg's early years growing up in the 1980s — here's what each character looks like compared to the real Goldberg family. From the first season of The Goldbergs, series creator, Adam F. Goldberg (who the main character is based on) cued audiences in on some of the more carefree moments of adolescence. The show even provides footage at the end of each episode, along with the occasional interview, of the true story that inspired the plot. Viewers get to see the real Goldberg family and gain insight into how the show matches the truth.

Since the real Adam Goldberg included plenty of home footage in The Goldbergs over the years, audiences can easily connect the dots between how the characters and the real Goldbergs act and react. That being said, the clips are from a 1980s camcorder in a family home, which means that they're grainy and difficult to track. Comparing how each character looks with the real Goldberg family can be difficult, even for long-time viewers of the show. Here's a glimpse behind The Goldbergs' true story and what each character looked like in real life during that period of Adam F. Goldberg's early years.

Sean Giambrone As Adam Goldberg

The Real Adam F. Goldberg Wasn't Blonde And Wore His Glasses Less

Sean Giambrone of the Solar Opposites cast plays Adam F. Goldberg in The Goldbergs. The youngest of the family, Adam has a deep interest in films and topical movies of the time such as The Goonies, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones. As shown above, Sean Giambrone does differ from the real Adam F. Goldberg at the same age. For instance, Giambrone is a blonde whereas Adam is a brunette.

As well, the show's Adam wears glasses nearly all the time, whereas the real-life one is shown often both with or without large coke-bottle lenses. That being said, the two boys are relatively the same size and stature. Based on the video footage of the real Goldberg family, Giambrone does a great job of copying the real Adam F. Goldberg's personality and mannerisms in The Goldbergs, despite the noticeable aesthetic differences.

Troy Gentile as Barry Goldberg

Barry In The Goldbergs Looks Remarkably Like The Real Thing

Troy Gentile got a comeback from his child-star days to play Barry Goldberg in The Goldbergs. Among the many pop-culture tributes The Goldbergs makes, one of the biggest ones for Barry is starting a Beastie Boys-type band and calling himself "Big Tasty." Notably, Troy bears one of the closest resemblances to his characters real Goldber family member.

While the real-life Barry Goldberg has straighter hair and a fairer complexion, their facial structures are very similar. His costuming is particularly accurate and Troy brings his own comedic flair to the character. There's a fair amount of footage of the true Barry to know that Troy Gentile portrays the boisterous sibling very well.

Hayley Orrantia as Erica (Eric) Goldberg

Erica's Gender Was Swapped For The Show

The biggest change that The Goldbergs made to the portrayal of their real-life family was changing the eldest brother, Eric Goldberg, into Hayley Orrantia's Erica Goldberg. There are many physical differences between the television character and Erica Goldberg's real-life counterpart, Eric Goldberg, though many of her storylines are taken from Eric's life.

Hayley Orrantia got to act alongside music superstar Rick Springfield in his The Goldbergs cameo while trying to further Erica's musical ambitions by working at a new karaoke bar. While the real Eric Goldberg had no musical ambitions (he became a doctor like most of the family), stories like breaking into a pool, stealing a knish, and getting arrested for it came from Eric's real life. Erica Goldberg beats up on her brothers similarly to the real eldest child. Ultimately, Hayley Orrantia's performance remains true to Eric.

According to the real Adam F. Goldberg, his brother Eric — Erica Goldberg's real-life inspiration — sometimes "does feel left out, just because it’s fun to be included in the show." (via Jewish Exponent). However, Adam deemed changing Eric to Erica necessary in order to not limit The Goldbergs to just stories about his brothers. Throughout the seasons, Erica's perspective as a young woman has been crucial to telling the story of The Goldbergs' alternate reality, which wouldn't have been possible if the show was simply a straightforward biographical series.

Wendi McLendon-Covey as Beverly Goldberg

The Beverly Actress On The Goldbergs Has A Lot In Common With The Genuine Article

Wendi McLendon-Covey is one of the more familiar faces featured on the show, playing Adam F. Goldberg's mother, Beverly Goldberg. Not only does the Bridesmaids star look very similar to the actual Beverly Goldberg, but based on stories from Adam F. Goldberg, her portrayal of his mom is eerily accurate. Of course, McLendon-Covey brings her own unique brand of over-the-top comedic stylings to the role, which may exaggerate the real Beverly Goldberg.

In an interview with People, Wendi McLendon-Covery revealed she was terrified of meeting the real Beverly Goldberg for the first time. McLendon-Covery got along well with Adam Goldberg's mother though, describing her as "intimidating but happy", but that she wouldn't want to be a store clerk when the apparently-equally-hilarious real Beverly Goldberg needed to return something. The Beverly Goldberg actress also revealed she had a lot in common with her real-life counterpart, proving just how right for the part she is.

Jeff Garlin as Murray Goldberg

The Controversial Actor Played An Accurate Grouchy Father

Despite the controversy surrounding Jeff Garlin, the actor had a funny eight-season run on The Goldbergs as patriarch and lovable curmudgeon Murray Goldberg, Adam F. Goldberg's dad. Though Murray is a used-furniture salesman on the show, the real-life Murray became a doctor and only sold used furniture during his college days.

The two have a similar bone structure in their faces and their statures are comparable. The real Murray isn't featured as much as other characters in Adam F. Goldberg's footage. When he is there, though, it does give the impression that Jeff Garlin's performance as the grumpy dad is accurate.

George Segal as Albert "Pops" Solomon

The Late Goldberg's Actor Was The Perfect Pops

George Segal's tragic passing occurred when Adam's character is in high school, though the real Albert "Pops" Solomon passed when Adam was in college. George Segal plays the heartwarming yet lewd grandfather in The Goldbergs. Beverly's father lives in the home with the family and sometimes ends up being Adam's best friend, which made The Goldbergs' Pops tribute all the more heartwarming.

Overall, George Segal looks pretty similar to the real Albert Solomon. The glasses featured in the photo above also appear in the show a couple of times. Out of everyone in The Goldbergs cast, George Segal looks the most similar to his real-life counterpart. The relationship between Adam and his grandfather is a highlight of the show, so the real Adam and Albert must've had the same meaningful relationship while he was growing up.

Which Goldbergs Character Was The Most Different From Real Life?

Erica Is The Most Distant From The True Story

Of all the characters in The Goldbergs, it's unsurprisingly Erica who has been changed the most from Adam Goldberg's real life. Changing the gender of his real-life brother Eric and creating a fictional sister was already a huge difference from the true story behind the show. However, as the series progressed, this led to more and more differences.

There were many Erica Goldberg subplots that hinged on her identity as a woman and so, for obvious reasons, were incredibly notable changes from the true story. Erica's pregnancy, her struggles with motherhood, and her rivarly with Adam's girlfriend Joanne due to the latter's success as a female lawyer, were all plot points that couldn't really have occurred had Adam Goldberg's older sibling remained male.

While Erica's personality is still heavily based on her real-life counterpart Eric, the distance between the two naturally grew further and further apart as The Goldberg's progressed. There are also subtler differences too. Erica dreamed of becoming a lawyer, whereas the real-life Eric went into medicine like many of his siblings. He also didn't lose interest in his career path and academic success. This, of course, wasn't the case for Erica, who found that motherhood and family life were her true calling and so gave up on her professional ambitions shortly before graduating.

What The Goldbergs Changed From Real Life

The Show Made A Few Significant Changes From The Real Adam F. Goldberg's Life

The Goldbergs had to change certain elements from real life in addition to the major Eric to Erica switch. Most of the major discrepancies are due to members of the cast no longer appearing on the show, namely George Segal's passing and Jeff Garlin's exit. One of the biggest changes that series creators made to the show involves the time period it's set in. Adam F. Goldberg was born on April 2, 1976. This means that his character started high school in 1990 rather than in the 1980s.

This was one of the biggest changes from real life for The Goldbergs, which, similar to shows like Stranger Things and movies like Top Gun: Maverick, relies heavily on 80s nostalgia and references. While the trends of the 80s were still raging in the early 90s, knowing that "it was 1980-something" is technically untrue makes a bit of a difference. The series also references certain cultural touchstones, like cars or popular phrases, that fall outside the 80s timeline.

According to Forward, Adam F. Goldberg also admitted that the show depicts his family differently than how they act in real life — they're notably tamer in the series. Changes were made to the Goldbergs after the real Adam Goldberg's family pushed back on their characterizations in season 1. The real Goldbergs were indeed a family that had overbearing parents and often fought one another. This was much more accurately depicted by the characters during The Goldbergs season 1, but the Goldberg family was made much tamer as the series went on to address the family's feedback.

Moreover, other slight adjustments were made, such as the fact that Murray worked at a furniture store in college then went on to become a doctor, and Pops died while Adam was in college rather than high school. What the real-life Goldbergs look like compared to their cast of doppelgängers provides a lot of interesting discussion among viewers. It's entertaining to see how most of the characters are comparable to their inspirations, while others in The Goldbergs deviate significantly, like Hayley Orrantia's Erica Goldberg.

The Goldbergs

Comedy

Release Date

September 24, 2013

Cast

Jeff Garlin , Wendi McLendon-Covey , AJ Michalka , George Segal , Hayley Orrantia , Sam Lerner , Sean Giambrone , Troy Gentile

Writers

Adam F. Goldberg

Network

ABC

Streaming Service(s)

Hulu , Prime Video