Willie Garson was born William Garson Paszamant on February 20, 1964 in Highland Park, New Jersey. He graduated from Highland Park High School in 1982 and got his early acting training at age 13 from the Actor’s Institute in New York City. He attended Yale Drama School and graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in theater and psychology. After graduating, he went on to appear in many popular television shows like Friends, The X-Files, The Practice, Melrose Place and Ally McBeal. One of his most famous roles is that of Stanford Blatch who was Sarah Jessica Parker’s character, Carrie Bradshaw’s gay friend on the groundbreaking series, Sex and the City. Interestingly, Garson has been a close friend of Sarah Jessica Parker for over 15 years.

Meyer Dickstein, played by Willie Garson on John from Cincinnati, is an avid supporter of surfer Butchie Yost and does his best to keep Butchie out of hot water. He goes to great lengths to look after the surfing has-been, including covering Butchie’s debts and fending off his enemies.


(Photo courtesy of HBO)