American actor 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.
Willie Garson began his career with small roles on several series. During the 1980s, he was seen in Cheers, Family Ties, Newhart, My Two Dads, and several episodes of Mr. Belvedere. He continued his career with parts in Twin Peaks, Quantum Leap, L.A. Law, Mad About You, Ally McBeal, Melrose Place and The Practice during the 1990s. He also made appearances in a number of Farrelly brothers films, like There’s Something About Mary, Kingpin and Fever Pitch. He was also on Play It to the Bone, as well as on other shows like Nash Bridges, The X Files, Boy Meets World, Early Edition, Friends, NYPD Blue, and Party of Five.
Other films that Garson has been seen in are Groundhog Day, Just Like Heaven, The Rock, Being John Malkovich, and Freaky Friday. Later on, he gained fame playing Stanford Blatch on the HBO series Sex and the City. He has worked on another HBO production as well, the drama John from Cincinnati. There, he landed the part of Meyer Dickstein, an avid supporter of surfer Butchie Yost. Garson also got roles in CSI: Miami, Stargate SG-1, Las Vegas, Monk, The Division and Yes, Dear. After his portrayal in John from Cincinnati, he took on roles in Chocolate News as Larry Turner, and signed on to work on the films Shannon’s Rainbow, Labor Pains and Ashley’s Ashes. He has also been credited for his cameo appearance in the movie Jackass Number Two.
(Photo courtesy of HBO)