Willie Garson, best known for playing Stanford Blatch on Sex and the City and Mozzie on White Collar, has died. He was 57. The cause of his death hasn’t been disclosed by the family, reports Variety.
In HBO’s Sex and the City series, Garson portrayed talent agent Stanford, the witty and stylish best male friend of Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker. Garson reprised the role in the franchise’s films, Sex and the City and Sex and the City 2, and had recently been filming HBO Max’s upcoming revival series, And Just Like That.
“The ‘Sex and the City’ family has lost one of its own. Our amazing Willie Garson,” Michael Patrick King, the executive producer of SATC and And Just Like That, said in a statement. “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 in life, as on screen, a devoted friend and a bright light for everyone in his universe,” reads a statement from HBO/HBO Max. “He created one of the most beloved characters from the HBO pantheon and was a member of our family for nearly twenty-five years. We are deeply saddened to learn of his passing and extend our sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.”
Apart from Sex and the City, Garson co-starred as cunning conman Mozzie on USA Network’s White Collar from 2009 to 2014. Garson was also known for playing the friendly doorman Ralph in the 2005 rom-com Little Manhattan, Gerald Hirsch in the Hawaii Five-0 reboot from 2015 to 2020, and Henry Coffield on NYPD Blue in 1993. His other early television appearances included Boy Meets World, The X-Files, Friends, Twin Peaks, Melrose Place, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Ally McBeal.
His other film credits included Soapdish (1991), Groundhog Day (1993), Being John Malkovich (1999) and Freaky Friday (2003).
