Tabb Carter

Tabb was born in Bushwick, Brooklyn in 1960. Nine years later, his family moved to Freeport, Long Island, where he lived with his mother, grandmother and uncle. Except for a few cameos, Tabb’s father was not in the picture. As a child, Tabb says he became easily irritated by his peers. Ultimately, he shut himself off from others. “I wanted to be a hermit,” Tabb recalls. “I wanted to be the only person on earth.”

At his mother’s insistence, Tabb attended Queens College but did not graduate. Instead, Tabb decided to pursue a career with the railroad, his first love. He was eventually hired by Amtrak, where he worked in the towers as a Block Operator controlling traffic. One day, Tabb became extremely agitated at work. He felt overworked and underappreciated – and he started to hear negative voices: “You’re not gonna keep this job. You’re gonna lose this job!” Ultimately, those voices got the best of him, and Tabb lost control. He tossed everything off his desk and damaged a machine. Consequently, Tabb was fired. At his mother’s urging, Tabb went to see a psychiatrist, and he was eventually diagnosed with bipolar schizophrenia. With the aid of impulse control disorder medication and psychiatric help, Tabb got a handle on his condition. Now, Tabb refers to himself as a “mental health consumer.”

With his railroad career done, Tabb needed a second act.

In the early 90s, Tabb got his cue via a New York Times classified ad: “Actors needed no experience necessary.” Tabb, who had al…