عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Entertainment

Willie Garson, 'White Collar' Actor, Dies at 57

Willie Garson. (AP)
Willie Garson. (AP)
TT
TT

Willie Garson, 'White Collar' Actor, Dies at 57

Willie Garson. (AP)
Willie Garson. (AP)

Willie Garson, an actor best known for playing Stanford Blatch in "Sex and the City" and Mozzie in "White Collar," has died. He was 57.

A family member of Garson's confirmed his death to Variety. A cause of death has not been disclosed.

In HBO's wildly popular "Sex and the City" series, Garson portrayed talent agent Stanford, the witty and stylish best male friend of Carrie Bradshaw (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's upcoming revival series, "And Just Like That."

Beyond "Sex and the City," Garson co-starred as cunning con man 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.

Born William Garson Paszamant in Highland Park, N.J., Garson studied theater at Wesleyan University and received a master of fine arts from Yale Drama School. After graduating, Garson began to book small roles on some of the most popular television programs of the day, including "Cheers" (1982), "Family Ties" (1982) and "L.A. Law" (1986). His other early television appearances included "Boy Meets World," "The X-Files," "Friends," "Twin Peaks," "Melrose Place," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Ally McBeal." More recently, Garson has held roles on "Two and a Half Men," "Hot in Cleveland," "Stargate SG-1" and "Pushing Daisies." He also dipped his toes in directing, having helmed episodes of "White Collar" and "Girl Meets World" for Disney Channel, in which he also guest starred.

Garson was also a persistent force in film, having worked with directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly on "KingPin" (1996), "There's Something About Mary" (1998) and "Fever Pitch" (2005). His other film credits included "Soapdish" (1991), "Groundhog Day" (1993) and "Being John Malkovich" (1999).

Most recently, Garson lent his voice to "Big Mouth" and had a recurring role on "Supergirl" from 2019 to 2020. Garson's upcoming projects included "And Just Like That" and the series "Duke of the Valley."

Garson adopted a son, Nathen, in 2009. He remained an active voice in the adoption community, having served twice as a spokesperson for National Adoption Day.

Nathen paid tribute to Garson on Instagram, writing: "I love you so much papa. Rest In Peace and I'm so glad you got to share all your adventures with me and were able to accomplish so much. I'm so proud of you. I will always love you, but I think it's time for you to go on an adventure of your own. You'll always be with me. Love you more than you will ever know and I'm glad you can be at peace now. You always were the toughest and funniest and smartest person I've known. I'm glad you shared you're love with me. I'll never forget it or lose it."

Most Viewed

 
 
Entertainment

Sundance Film Festival Hits Utah, One Last Time

From Hollywood's biggest stars to breakthrough newcomers, the cinema world has descended on Sundance. Valerie MACON / AFP/File
From Hollywood's biggest stars to breakthrough newcomers, the cinema world has descended on Sundance. Valerie MACON / AFP/File
TT
TT

Sundance Film Festival Hits Utah, One Last Time

From Hollywood's biggest stars to breakthrough newcomers, the cinema world has descended on Sundance. Valerie MACON / AFP/File
From Hollywood's biggest stars to breakthrough newcomers, the cinema world has descended on Sundance. Valerie MACON / AFP/File

The first Sundance Film Festival since the death of founder Robert Redford begins in Park City Thursday -- the final time it will be held in the mountains of Utah.

Hollywood A-listers Olivia Wilde, Natalie Portman and Ethan Hawke are expected to walk the red carpet at the snowcapped Rocky Mountain resort, along with a host of lesser-known filmmakers at one of the most important gatherings in the global movie calendar.

Amy Redford, daughter of the "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" star who created the festival in 1978, said this year's get-together would be an emotional experience, just four months after her father's death.

"Very proud," she said, when asked how she felt about her father's legacy.

"He was somebody that created from the field, not from on high," she told AFP.

"He never meant to be the center of focus for this whole organization. The center of focus was always the storytellers."

Line-up

Among the dozens of feature-length films and documentaries on show over the coming days will be "The Invite" directed by and starring Wilde, opposite Seth Rogen and Edward Norton.

The script, co-written by Rashida Jones ("Parks and Recreation"), deals with a couple whose mysterious neighbors come over for dinner.

"Mad Men" stars Jon Hamm and John Slattery reunite in "Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass," where a Midwestern bride-to-be rampages through Hollywood in an effort to even the score after her fiance uses the couple's "free celebrity pass" on his famous crush.

In "The Gallerist" -- starring Oscar winners Natalie Portman and Da'Vine Joy Randolph, along with Jenna Ortega and Sterling K. Brown -- a desperate curator tries to sell a dead body at Art Basel Miami.

Among the most hotly anticipated non-celebrity films premiering at the festival is "The History of Concrete," a sideways look by John Wilson about how to sell a film about building materials.

A strong international lineup includes director Molly Manners debut feature "Extra Geography" from the UK and queer genre film "Leviticus" from Australia.

"Hanging by a Wire" tells the story of the nail-biting race to save schoolboys dangling from a stranded cable car in the Himalayan foothills.

"Hold On to Me" from Cyprus traces the efforts of an 11-year-old tracking down her estranged father, while documentary "Kikuyu Land" from Kenya examines how powerful outside forces use local corruption to dispossess a people.

All of them will offer something special, Amy Redford said.

"I think the look on the faces of people that premiere their films and realize they're looking out into an audience who understand what they were trying to say...it always just is kind of a stunning experience," she said.

Moving on

The festival moves next year to Boulder, Colorado, having outgrown its current host city.

For festival programmer John Nein, who has been at every edition since 1996, leaving Park City will be bittersweet.

"It's a special place," he told AFP.

"It's a place that has been so tied to how the festival works in terms of people coming to this place. It's not particularly convenient. It's really cold."

"But in a weird way, that's what brings people here and it's what creates the audience that we have here. So I feel like that's part of what made it special."

Festival director Eugene Hernandez said the Sundance Institute will continue to have roots in Utah, even as the festival moves to Colorado.

But this year's program will be one to remember.

"There's going to be a lot of laughter, there will probably also be some tears, there will be joy, there will be connection, there will be community," he said.

"I think those are all aspects that make a festival."

Entertainment

Brooklyn Beckham Accuses David and Victoria of Putting Branding Before Family and Sabotaging Wedding

03 September 2019, United Kingdom, London: David Beckham (L), Victoria Beckham and Brooklyn Beckham arrive at the GQ Men of the Year Awards 2019 in association with Hugo Boss at the Tate Modern. (dpa)
03 September 2019, United Kingdom, London: David Beckham (L), Victoria Beckham and Brooklyn Beckham arrive at the GQ Men of the Year Awards 2019 in association with Hugo Boss at the Tate Modern. (dpa)
TT
TT

Brooklyn Beckham Accuses David and Victoria of Putting Branding Before Family and Sabotaging Wedding

03 September 2019, United Kingdom, London: David Beckham (L), Victoria Beckham and Brooklyn Beckham arrive at the GQ Men of the Year Awards 2019 in association with Hugo Boss at the Tate Modern. (dpa)
03 September 2019, United Kingdom, London: David Beckham (L), Victoria Beckham and Brooklyn Beckham arrive at the GQ Men of the Year Awards 2019 in association with Hugo Boss at the Tate Modern. (dpa)

A Beckham family falling-out has spilled further into public view in a series of social media posts from Brooklyn Beckham alleging that his parents David and Victoria Beckham have tried to sabotage his marriage and have always prioritized public branding over their family relationships.

“For my entire life, my parents have controlled narratives in the press about our family. The performative social media posts, family events and inauthentic relationships have been a fixture of the life I was born into,” Brooklyn Beckham wrote in several pages of text posted via Instagram stories.

At 26, he's the eldest of the four children of the retired English football superstar and former Spice Girl-turned-fashion designer and has worked as a model and photographer, even aspiring to be a chef. He married American actor Nicola Peltz, daughter of activist investor Nelson Peltz, in 2022.

“Recently, I have seen with my own eyes the lengths that they’ll go through to place countless lies in the media, mostly at the expense of innocent people, to preserve their own facade. But I believe the truth always comes out,” the posts said.

The posts make public a barely veiled feud that had been brewing in anonymously sourced stories in tabloids for months. Younger brother Cruz Beckham said on Instagram in December that Brooklyn had blocked family members on social media.

“I do not want to reconcile with my family.” Brooklyn Beckham wrote. “I’m not being controlled, I’m standing up for myself for the first time in my life.”

Unlike his three younger siblings, Brooklyn Beckham did not appear in his mother's recent Netflix docuseries, “Victoria Beckham,” and did not show up at the October premiere as he and Peltz had for the London premiere in 2023 of the one centered on his father, called just “Beckham."

Many of the grievances described in the Instagram stories stem from the Peltz-Beckham wedding in Florida. He accused his mother of bailing at the last minute on designing Peltz's wedding dress, and said she “hijacked” the first dance he was supposed to have with his wife to music performed by Marc Anthony.

“She danced very inappropriately on me in front of everyone,” Brooklyn Beckham wrote. “I’ve never felt more uncomfortable or humiliated in my entire life.”

Without giving specifics he also wrote that before the wedding his parents “repeatedly pressured and attempted to bribe me into signing away the rights to my name.”

David and Victoria Beckham did not have an immediate public response to the posts, and messages to representatives from The Associated Press were not immediately answered.

In a Tuesday appearance on CNBC, David Beckham, who is at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, did not directly address his son's statements, but said that children make mistakes on social media and should be allowed to.

“That’s what I try to teach my kids. But you know, you have to sometimes let them make those mistakes as well,” he said.

Married since 1999, David and Victoria Beckham have three other children, 23-year-old Romeo, 20-year-old Cruz and 14-year-old Harper.

Entertainment

‘Snow White’ and ‘War of the Worlds’ Lead Razzie Nominations

Cast member Rachel Zegler attends a premiere for the film "Snow White", in Los Angeles, California, US, March 15, 2025. (Reuters)
Cast member Rachel Zegler attends a premiere for the film "Snow White", in Los Angeles, California, US, March 15, 2025. (Reuters)
TT
TT

‘Snow White’ and ‘War of the Worlds’ Lead Razzie Nominations

Cast member Rachel Zegler attends a premiere for the film "Snow White", in Los Angeles, California, US, March 15, 2025. (Reuters)
Cast member Rachel Zegler attends a premiere for the film "Snow White", in Los Angeles, California, US, March 15, 2025. (Reuters)

With Oscar nominations a day away, Hollywood’s annual reckoning with its film failures took shape on ​Wednesday as Disney’s live-action “Snow White” and the remake “War of the Worlds” tied for six nods for the Golden Raspberry Awards.

Popularly known as the Razzies, the awards are an annual Oscar spoof that spotlights what voters deem Hollywood’s worst performances. The 46th ‌Golden Raspberry ‌Awards are set for ‌March 14, ⁠the ​day ‌before the Oscar awards.

Disney’s "Snow White," a 2025 remake of the 1937 animated classic, scored a worst picture nod along with nominations for worst remake, director and screenplay. The fantasy film stars Rachel Zegler as Snow White ⁠and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen, and its seven ‌computer-generated dwarf characters were ‍also cited for both ‍worst supporting actors and screen combo.

Tying with “Snow ‍White,” the 2025 science fiction film "War of the Worlds," starring rapper Ice Cube and actor Eva Longoria, based on H. G. Wells' 1898 ​novel, also scored six nominations, including worst picture, actors, remake, director, screenplay and screen ⁠combo.

Other nominees include the psychological thriller “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” science fiction film “Star Trek: Section 31,” and the action-adventure Netflix film “The Electric State,” starring “Stranger Things” lead Millie Bobby Brown.

More than 1,100 Razzie members from across the United States and about two dozen other countries vote on the awards, according to the Razzie website. Voters are members of the Golden Raspberry Foundation ‌that consists of film critics and movie experts.