Out Spotlight LXXXIII

Today's Outspotlight is actor Dick Sargent.

He may be best known for his role as the second Darren (or Durwood, if you are Endora) Stevens, on the iconic television show Bewitched. He was cast as the straight man to the kooky cast of characters that came with marrying his witch wife Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery). But on National Coming Out Day in 1991 Dick Sargent gave up the role of "straight man" in real life and became known for an entirely different reason.

Sargent was born Richard Cox in Carmel, California on April 19, 1930. His mother, Ruth McNaughton Cox, had been an actress in silent films. His father, Colonel Elmer Cox, had served with distinction in World War I.

Sargent auditioned successfully for a lead role for Bewitched but couldn't to accept it because of contractual obligations to Universal Studios. He eventually did take the part in 1969 when actor Dick York, who originally played the role, had to withdraw for health reasons.

Sargent took over the part of Darrin, an adman who was married to a beautiful witch and who had to put up with the shenanigans of her decidedly eccentric supernatural relatives. He joined a cast that included actress Agnes Moorehead (who has be the subject about much discussion and debate about her own sexuality) and gay actor Paul Lynde, neither publicly came out before their death.

Like many other actors Sargent remained closeted, fearing that the revelation of his sexual orientation would spell ruin for his career. And like others, including Raymond Burr, had done before him, he invented a former spouse, in Sargent's case a fictional divorced wife. Later, he cooperated in fueling media speculation that he was romantically involved with women by being seen escorting starlets to Hollywood parties. On one occasion he posed with actress Connie Francis for pictures that appeared in a movie fan magazine. "We looked passionately at each other, but that was the only time I ever saw her," Sargent recalled in 1991.

Unknown to audiences, Sargent was in a loving and stable relationship with another man, a television screenwriter, whom he later identified publicly simply as Frank. It pained Sargent not to be able to speak openly about their bond and to have to call the love of his life a "business associate." The pair were together for twenty years until Frank died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1979.

Among those who knew of the relationship was Elizabeth Montgomery, the star of Bewitched, who became a good friend to Sargent. She and her husband often went out with Sargent and Frank.

In 1991 with so few actors were openly out as gay men that it made Sargent's made quite a significant impact. Overnight he went from playing roles to being a role model. Sargent said that factors motivating his decision to come out included California governor Pete Wilson's veto of a bill to protect gay men and lesbians from job discrimination and also his concern about the rate of suicide among young gay people, but he was also responding as well to his outing by a tabloid newspaper, The Star, that erroneously reported that he and a new lover had trashed a house and that the police had evicted them. He was not dispute the fact that he was gay, but that the rest of the story was false.

Howard Bragman, a past Out Spotlight topic himself, handled Sargent's PR when he finally came out , 20 years after the Bewitch ended.

Remembers Bragman: "I got a call from a guy named David Smith who was head of PR at the \[LA\] Gay and Lesbian Center at that point. David said, 'Listen, we're all going to march in Sacramento and this week is National Coming Out Day and I have two people who are coming out: Sheila Kuehl (Zelda Gilroy on The Many Loves of Doby Gillis) and Dick Sargent. Can you handle that?' We went to 'Entertainment Tonight' and we gave them Dick Sargent and Sheila Kuehl and Dick was joking: 'I'm in my 60s, who's gonna care? I haven't been on TV in decades.' People did care. A lot of actors had not come out at that point and still, to this day, when an actor comes out it's big news. So, I helped him out of the closet and was there when he passed away."

Sargent found coming out liberating. In a interview he shortly after he came out, he talked about the experience. "It was such a relief. I lived in fear of being found out. Now it's given me a whole new mission in life,"

Once out he became a leader to many through his visibility as well as his activism. In the months to come Mr. Sargent dedicated a great deal of energy to aiding gay and lesbian causes (in addition to his ongoing commitment to The Special Olympics). He a participated in the Lesbian and Gay Public Awareness Project and began speaking out on gay rights issues. 1992 he along with his former Bewitched co-star Elizabeth Montgomery, served as the Grand Marshals of The Orange County Pride Parade of 1992.

Sargent was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1989, despite going under extensive radiation treatment he passed away on July 8, 1994.

Out Spotlight LXI

Today's Out Spotlight is Howard Bragman.

Born and raised in Flint, Michigan and Bragman graduated with a B.A in Journalism and Psychology from the University of Michigan in 1978, Bragman has been called by some "the best publicist in the business". He served as a vice president in the Chicago and Los Angeles offices of Burson-Marsteller Public Relations. He later founded Bragman Nyman Cafarelli (BNC) in 1989. Under Bragman, which went on to become one of the largest and most respected public relations firms in Los Angeles. In 2001, BNC was purchased by Interpublic Group, one of the world’s largest holding companies for marketing companies. In 2005, he went on to establish Fifteen Minutes, a strategic media and public relations agency.

He has created a visually directed media preparation manual aimed at young actors that is standard preparation for all actors at Nickelodeon Movies and Television. He also media trains hundreds of people including actors, CEOs, physicians, elected officials and attorneys.

As a nationally renowned crisis counselor, Bragman has provided litigation support for a significant number of high-profile cases and individuals. These include: Joseph Steffan, who was kicked out of the United States Naval Academy for his sexual orientation; the Lewinsky family; and Sharon Smith in Smith v. Knoller, a high-profile civil rights and justice trial involving a tragic dog-mauling death. Has served in crisis management for the Paula Abdul,

Bragman has also worked with athletes and sports entities his entire career. And has helped those athletes coming out of the closet. In 2003, he repped Esera Tuaolo as he came out of the closet. Since then, he has also been the publicist for the coming out of golfer Rosie Jones, WNBA player Sheryl Swoopes and former NBA player John Amaechi.

He has also helped those in Hollywood as well. First with Dick Sergeant [the second Darin on "Bewitched"] and Sheila Kuhl [California State Senator, who was on "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis"] in 1991. Then Amanda Bearse [Marcie Darcy on Married with Children] after she came out, and Mitchell Anderson after he came out. Other clients have includeds Bruce Villanch and Sandra Bernhard, along the way who deal with the issue. Bragman said talking about those who are ready to come out "When anybody comes out, it makes an amazing different. I remember when Dick came out and thought, "I haven't been on Bewitched for decades," and we called him a retroactive role model. But flowers and letters and notes started coming from people, and you realize, this guy can change the world."

Ask if he has ever advised an athlete or client to stay in, Bragman said. "If they're not ready emotionally, absolutely. The first male to come out of the closet on a team sport while they're playing certainly has to understand that the scrutiny is going to be intense. As John Amaechi mentioned, and as I believe, you have to be pretty indispensable before you have the balls to do that. This guy named Edward Bernays, he's sort of known as the father of public relations, said a P.R. person has different jobs. The first is to present the client to the world. And the second is to interpret the world for the client, and I take that very seriously. I talk a lot of times to my client about timing, and the right time to do things. And that's one of the biggest mistakes I see in the P.R. world. Just because you can get press doesn't necessarily mean you should get press at that time. So I try to help them understand what the right time is. That being said, I always tell people I've never had a bad experience with someone coming out of the closet."

He served an Adjunct Professor in Public Relations at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Center for Communication from 1998 to 2003.

Bragman is active in the AIDS/HIV community, on lesbian and gay civil rights, Jewish causes and First Amendment protections. He has received awards and honors from numerous groups including AIDS Project Los Angeles, Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, and Congregation Kol Ami. He founded the Jewish Image Awards, honoring positive portrayals of Jews in television and film.

He was asked to contribute his personal story to the book "Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay in America."

He recently has written the book "Where's my Fifteen Minutes?" A book helping readers understand the changing world of today’s PR. If your public’s perception doesn’t match reality—if you are a better person, offer a better product, or stand for a better cause than anyone realizes— you need help.


Howard resides in Los Angeles with his husband, Chuck O'Donnell (a horse trainer), two dogs and a parrot. Bragman and O'Donnell were married in July, 2008, in Norwalk, California. Instead of gifts they asked his friends if so compelled they should donate to the efforts for No on 8!


“If a hitter has been in a slump, he should not be trying to hit home runs. They should go for doubles and singles. You've got to build your credibility, go back to the fundamentals.”

Fifteen Minutes
Check out The Ten Commandments of PR and The Six Degrees of Ziggy while you're there.

Online discussions about Coming out in Hollywood at the Norman Lear Center at the Annenberg Center of Communications

One relevant today: When will a A-list star come out?

Publicist Helping Athletes Come Out

Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay in America