Skip to content
Author
UPDATED:

Actor Willie Garson, a fan favorite who starred in “Sex and the City” and “White Collar,” died Tuesday. He was 57.

Garson died from an unspecified illness, People magazine reported. He was surrounded by family.

“I’m so glad you got to share all your adventures with me and were able to accomplish so much,” Garson’s son Nathen wrote in an Instagram post. “You always were the toughest and funniest and smartest person I’ve known. I’m glad you shared [your] love with me. I’ll never forget it or lose it.”

Willie Garson attends an event in West Hollywood in February 2020.
Willie Garson attends an event in West Hollywood in February 2020.

Garson was best known for his work on “Sex and the City” and its spin-off films as one of Carrie Bradshaw’s best friends, Stanford Blatch. He went on to star in “White Collar” and appeared in many other TV shows and movies.

In June, he was announced as part of an upcoming “Sex and the City” reboot “And Just Like That…” on HBO Max.

“I couldn’t have had a more brilliant TV partner,” fellow “SATC” actor Mario Cantone said in a tweet. “I’m devastated and just overwhelmed with sadness. Taken away from all of us way soon. You were a gift from the gods. Rest my sweet friend. I love you.”

Willie Garson shares a laugh with his real-life and on-screen friend, Sarah Jessica Parker.
Willie Garson shares a laugh with his real-life and on-screen friend, Sarah Jessica Parker.

Born Feb. 20, 1964 in Highland Park, N.J., Garson honed his acting chops at Wesleyan and Yale. In 1986, his first year as a professional, Garson picked up six credits, including a spot as a waiter on “Cheers.”

That would prove to be a light year for Garson, who went on to star in dozens of movies and TV series from “NYPD Blue” to “Two and a Half Men.” But he’s known best as Stanford Blatch on “Sex and the City.” He and Sarah Jessica Parker, who were close friends, spoke about the show before jumping on board.

“I hadn’t spoken to Sarah in weeks,” Garson told Entertainment Weekly in 2008. “I left the network [audition], and I called her and I said, ‘What do you know about this thing, ‘Sex and the City?” and she’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m probably going to do it, but to do TV again, it’s so hard, and everyone hates TV. … Why, what do you know about it?’ and I said, ‘I think I’m doing it.’ And she said, ‘You’re kidding me. Well, then, I should do it.'”

“Sex and the City” catapulted Garson — previously known as a quality character actor — to new levels of stardom.

“Certainly in New York, there was nothing like it,” he told EW. “It was like being on the Yankees. We were hometown heroes. If you picked up any magazine or newspaper, you’d feel like we must be getting an audience of 90 million people a week.”

While the series ended, Garson joined both films and shot scenes for the reboot.

Despite his brush with superstardom, Garson continued grabbing one-off parts. He popped into “CSI,” “Monk,” “Fever Pitch” and even Disney Channel’s “Wizards of Waverly Place,” among many other projects.

He was later introduced to a different set of fans as the cunning yet insecure con-man Mozzie on “White Collar.”

Garson enjoyed the role and the writing on the show, even taking over as director for an episode in 2013.

“Every character on the show is smart and clever, and I think our viewers are, too. So we really look at every line as, ‘Is this the most clever, funniest thing to say?’ Because our viewers don’t want to hear, ‘That’s all we got,'” Garson told the Daily News that year. “But I was able to put in maybe 10 to 15 little things that are mine, they’re my touches.”

In the midst of his whirlwind acting career, Garson adopted 7-year-old Nathen in 2009.

“The second I saw him I knew he was mine and he would be my son,” he told Authority Magazine last year. “When I saw Nathen he was bouncing in, he was so with it, he seemed like he had it all together and not buying into the sadness. He was like a light that was shining brightly.”

Garson is survived by Nathen, who plays tennis at The College of Wooster in Ohio.

“You’ll always be with me,” Nathen wrote in his Instagram post. “Love you more than you will ever know and I’m glad you can be at peace now.”

Originally Published: