Willie Garson, Star Of “Sex And The City,” Has Died At 57

September 22, 2021 / Posted by:

This news absolutely sucks for a variety of reasons, the biggest of which is that the Sex and the City franchise lost arguably one of its best, sweetest, most grounded in reality, least annoying characters. And by all accounts (at least by the massive outpouring of memorials from his former colleagues), Willie Garson was that too. Variety has confirmed that after a short illness, Willie Garson died yesterday at the age of 57.

A member of Willie’s family confirmed the news to Variety but did not disclose the cause of death. People magazine has reported that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and passed after a very short illness. They add that he was surrounded by his family, which includes his 19-year-old son Nathen. Michael Patrick King, executive producer of SATC in all its incarnations, released the following statement upon the news of Willie’s death, and it sounds like Willie had been filming And Just Like That… while sick with cancer.

“The Sex and the City family has lost one of its own. Our amazing Willie Garson. His spirit and his dedication to his craft was present every day filming And Just Like That. He was there – giving us his all – even while he was sick. His multitude of gifts as an actor and person will be missed by everyone. In this sad, dark moment we are comforted by our memory of his joy and light.”

Willie Garson was born William Garson Paszamant in New Jersey and got into acting through college, first graduating from Wesleyan with a BFA in theater, then from Yale with a Master’s from Yale Drama School. And maybe they slipped him a lucky horseshoe when they presented him with his degree because he started acting in television the minute he graduated. Like, who else can say the ink was barely dry on their Master’s degree before they landed Troop Beverly Hills? That was followed by a role in Soapdish. Then Groundhog Day. His IMDb page is envious. For example, in 1993 he booked 5 films and 5 TV appearances. And he had reoccurring roles on some major network series, like Mr. Belvedere, Quantum Leap, Boy Meets World, and The X-Files. Most recently, Willie was a regular on all five seasons of White Collar.

But Willie’s probably best-known role was talent agent Stanford Blatch on Sex and the City. He was in 27 episodes during the show’s six-season run, then in the Sex and the City movie, once again in Sex and the City 2, and most recently in the HBO Max revival And Just Like That…Stanford’s character arc went from Carrie’s best guy friend to getting married to his one-time nemesis Anthony Marantino. His on-screen husband, Mario Cantone, paid tribute to him, as did everyone from Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis (who met Willie for the first time on the set of The X-Files and celebrated his role as a single father), and Kim Cattrall, to his White Collar colleagues, like Matt Bomer.

There are so many good clips of Stanford on SATC, and if you’ve seen one you’ve likely seen them all (there are no part-time SATC fans). But I didn’t watch SATC while it was on, so my first real introduction to Willie Garson was, and this is a random pull, but Jackass 2 and Jackass 2.5. Willie showed up for a stunt involving a live stun gun that was passed around in a game of hot potato. Willie Garson grabbed a stun gun with his bare hands. He bravely walked into the SATC set every day, and fearlessly won a Jackass stunt. He might have been one of the toughest people in show business. Rest in peace, Willie Garson.

Pic: Wenn.com

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