Willie Garson, a veteran actor best known for playing the vivacious “Fifth Lady†Stanford Blatch on Sex and the City, has died at the age of 57. People reports that Garson had been suffering from pancreatic cancer for several years, and he passed away on Tuesday, surrounded by family, “following a short illness.†In addition to appearing frequently throughout Sex and the City’s initial television run and two follow-up films, Garson starred as the fan-favorite eidetic con man Mozzie on White Collar. He will also posthumously appear in And Just Like That …, the HBO Max sequel series to SATC. Among the co-stars who have mourned Garson’s death on social media include Cynthia Nixon, who described him as being “endlessly funny onscreen and and in real life. He was a source of light, friendship, and show-business lore.†Matt Bomer, Garson’s fellow White Collar scene-stealer, wrote, “I love you forever.†Kim Cattrall added, “Such sad news and a terribly sad loss to the SATC family.â€
Update, Friday, September 24, at 3:45 p.m.: Sarah Jessica Parker, Willie Garson’s longtime Sex and the City co-star and friend, shared her grief with fans two days after the news. “It’s been unbearable,†she wrote on Instagram, under a slideshow of old photos. “Sometimes silence is a statement. Of the gravity. The anguish. The magnitude of the loss of a 30+ year friendship. A real friendship that allowed for secrets, adventure, a shared professional family, truth, concerts, road trips, meals, late night phone calls, a mutual devotion to parenthood and all the heartaches and joy that accompany, triumphs, disappointments, fear, rage and years spent on sets (most especially Carrie’s apartment) and laughing late into the night as both Stanford and Carrie and Willie and SJ.†Garson played Stanford Blatch in the series for 12 years and will posthumously reprise the role in And Just Like That … “Willie,†Parker continued. “I will miss everything about you. And replay our last moments together. I will re-read every text from your final days and put to pen our last calls. Your absence a crater that I will fill with blessing of these memories and all the ones that are still in recesses yet to surface.†The actress sent her condolences to Nathen, Garson’s son, before ending with Garson’s last words to her. “‘Great bangles all around.’ Yes,†she finished. “Godspeed Willie Garson.â€