Willie Garson's 'Sex and the City' Costars Pay Tribute on What Would Have Been His 59th Birthday

Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis led the tributes for Garson on Monday

willie garson
Willie Garson with Sex and the City costars Kristin Davis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kim Cattrall. Photo: getty

Willie Garson's former Sex and the City costars are keeping him in their memory.

In honor of his birthday on Monday, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis led the tributes for Garson as he would have turned 59.

Nixon, 56, shared a throwback photo of the pair with the caption: "Dear Willie, I am thinking of you today on your birthday. I miss you."

"I miss your sweetness, your snarky sense of humor and your sublime talent," she wrote. "I miss you when we are shooting. I miss you when not. We are so lucky to have known you but just wish so much you were still here."

NEW YORK - JUNE 18: (U.S. TABS AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER OUT) Actors Willie Garson and Cynthia Nixon attend HBO'S "Sex and The City" season premiere screening after-party at the American Museum of Natural History June 18, 2003 in New York City. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Getty Images)
Evan Agostini/Getty

In Davis's tribute post, she shared a pic of the duo together as well as one of Garson with his son Nathen.

"Today is Willie's Birthday. I celebrate all that he has left behind," wrote Davis, 57. "His incredibly kind and whip smart son @nathen_garson and so many friends with wonderful memories. We struggle with your absence dear Willie. We miss you and quite frankly there is a painful hole in our hearts."

"I can only imagine how Nathen and the rest of the family are coping," she continued. "I never take my health for granted. And I try to remember to connect and appreciate the people in my life in real time. We miss your humor and silliness on the set and I miss our conversations about our kids. Hope you are flying free dear Willie ♥️♥️♥️🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼💫💫💫"

Concluding her post, Davis shared a sweet "love you" message for Garson's son.

Kristin Davis and Willie Garson (Photo by Jason Merritt/FilmMagic)
Jason Merritt/FilmMagic

Garson's former Sex and the City husband, Mario Cantone, also shared a heartfelt message for the late actor.

"Happy Birthday my Big Screen Husband #williegarson," he said, sharing a photo of them together onscreen. "You are missed and loved in so many ways. An incredible partner, father and friend. You are in my heart and mind through all of it."

Mario Cantone and Willie Garson
BILLY FARRELL/getty

Garson died in September 2021 at age 57. He had been quietly battling pancreatic cancer, though Sarah Jessica Parker was the only cast member who knew of his struggle in advance.

"You know, the last time I saw Willie, and most of us saw Willie, maybe all of us saw Willie was at [Chris Noth's character] Mr. Big's funeral," Nixon said in a documentary for the SATC revival, titled And Just Like That... The Documentary. "Sarah Jessica was the only person who knew that he was ill."

Continued Davis, "At one point, Sarah knew and the rest of us didn't because he didn't want us to know because he didn't want it to be about that."

"If he could've stayed one more day, two more hours, three more weeks, he would've summoned the strength and pushed away the terrible pain that he was in," added Parker, 57. "I mean like pain, like physical pain."

NEW YORK - OCTOBER 01: Actress Sarah Jessica Parker and actor Willie Garson sighting filming a scene for the movie "Sex and The City" on location in the west village on October 01 2007 in New York City (Photo by Marcel Thomas/FilmMagic)
Marcel Thomas/FilmMagic

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This past fall, Garson's son Nathen honored the one-year death anniversary of the "beautiful bald man" that raised him. (The White Collar alum adopted Nathen in 2009.)

"Besides his head, I think I miss his laugh and smile the most. Because I knew that whenever he was laughing he wasn't the only one laughing," he previously wrote on Instagram.

He had a gift of being able to talk to literally anyone he came into contact with and make them either laugh or awkwardly smile from a joke he had probably just told them," he continued. "I had heard the same 3 or 4 dad jokes from the time I moved in at 7 to when I turned 15. So at least a hundred times each joke and I would beg him to get a new joke. Now, however, I wouldn't be upset to hear him say those same jokes a thousand or even a million more times."

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