Westport, Connecticut — a decision not without controversy.
On the flip side, it helped clean up a derelict park, home to transients, and reopened long shuttered businesses. Today, the Lappin Park area is a bustling, thriving tourist destination. (Thanks, Sam!)
Dick Sargent, who will probably always be known as “the second Darrin,” was a very nice man. I got to know him during my first two years in LA; the last two years of his life. He was charming and fun — an absolute sweetheart. His original surname was Cox. He used to delight in telling people that his mother never quite understood why he decided to change his name from “Dick Cox” to Dick Sargent.
During my first March in L.A., Kasey and I called him for a little get-together we were hosting at her acting studio. This soirée included Sandy Gould, Erin Murphy, Kasey, Dick, and me. It was like old home week for everyone from the cast, and I was beside myself as you can well imagine. These people had not seen each other in twenty years, and here they were getting reacquainted because they wanted to do my project, Bewitched… Again! Surreal is the only way to describe how it felt to be sitting right in the middle of it all!
Everyone was so pleased to see each other again, and kept saying, “Why haven’t we done this before?” I remember Dick kept saying, “I didn’t think any of you liked me!” He couldn’t have been more wrong.
Another adventure we all shared was the time that Kasey, Sandy, and I made plans to meet Dick at a gay nightclub in West Hollywood called Rage. There I was, sitting amidst these Bewitched icons, watching all these guys do double-takes as they walked by. For those that were bold enough to ask who I was, Dick introduced me as his son, “Adam”!
To all of America, he may just be Darrin #2, but to me, he’ll always be my favorite step-dad!
I talked to Dick one last time in June of 1994. All of us were genuinely heartsick when he told us that his prostate cancer had returned. Like so many others from Bewitched, it was far too soon, and Dick was far too young.
His memorial service was held on July 24th, 1994 at Forest Lawn Cemetery Burbank in the Old North Church (a replica of the church made famous by Paul Revere). Seated on the pew with Kasey and myself were Bernard Fox, his wife Jacque, Erin Murphy, Alice Ghostley, and Sandra Gould.
Shortly before the service began, the doors in the back of the church quietly opened, and in walked Elizabeth Montgomery. She knew that arriving early would have caused the press to focus on her, diminishing the reason we were all there.
Though I tried not to stare, I couldn’t help but notice that Elizabeth looked absolutely radiant! Her hair was long again, not curly, as it was in the Edna Buchanan TV movies, but with a more relaxed flip, reminiscent of Samantha Stephens. She wore a burgundy dress and heels that accentuated her shapely legs, and she looked phenomenal!
No one would have believed that she too, would be gone only eight months later.
After the service, we were all invited over to Dick’s house; a lovely cottage built into the mountains of the Hollywood Hills that overlooked the valley. It was especially beautiful that night, watching fireworks shoot into the sky from Universal Studios.
As we walked inside, I found it a little odd that the kitchen was in the process of being remodeled. The refrigerator and stove had been moved and were sitting at odd angles, and all the flooring had been torn out, exposing the sub-floor.
On an easel in the living room was a large, color, abstract painting of Dick. But noticeably absent from the rest of the house were mementoes of his career; the exception was a color photo of him and Elizabeth used as a TV Guide cover shortly after he took over the role of Darrin Stephens.
This was also the evening that Sandra Gould introduced me to Elizabeth Montgomery. Now I finally had the opportunity to tell her how much Bewitched meant to me, but I
On the flip side, it helped clean up a derelict park, home to transients, and reopened long shuttered businesses. Today, the Lappin Park area is a bustling, thriving tourist destination. (Thanks, Sam!)
Dick Sargent, who will probably always be known as “the second Darrin,” was a very nice man. I got to know him during my first two years in LA; the last two years of his life. He was charming and fun — an absolute sweetheart. His original surname was Cox. He used to delight in telling people that his mother never quite understood why he decided to change his name from “Dick Cox” to Dick Sargent.
During my first March in L.A., Kasey and I called him for a little get-together we were hosting at her acting studio. This soirée included Sandy Gould, Erin Murphy, Kasey, Dick, and me. It was like old home week for everyone from the cast, and I was beside myself as you can well imagine. These people had not seen each other in twenty years, and here they were getting reacquainted because they wanted to do my project, Bewitched… Again! Surreal is the only way to describe how it felt to be sitting right in the middle of it all!
Everyone was so pleased to see each other again, and kept saying, “Why haven’t we done this before?” I remember Dick kept saying, “I didn’t think any of you liked me!” He couldn’t have been more wrong.
Another adventure we all shared was the time that Kasey, Sandy, and I made plans to meet Dick at a gay nightclub in West Hollywood called Rage. There I was, sitting amidst these Bewitched icons, watching all these guys do double-takes as they walked by. For those that were bold enough to ask who I was, Dick introduced me as his son, “Adam”!
To all of America, he may just be Darrin #2, but to me, he’ll always be my favorite step-dad!
I talked to Dick one last time in June of 1994. All of us were genuinely heartsick when he told us that his prostate cancer had returned. Like so many others from Bewitched, it was far too soon, and Dick was far too young.
His memorial service was held on July 24th, 1994 at Forest Lawn Cemetery Burbank in the Old North Church (a replica of the church made famous by Paul Revere). Seated on the pew with Kasey and myself were Bernard Fox, his wife Jacque, Erin Murphy, Alice Ghostley, and Sandra Gould.
Shortly before the service began, the doors in the back of the church quietly opened, and in walked Elizabeth Montgomery. She knew that arriving early would have caused the press to focus on her, diminishing the reason we were all there.
Though I tried not to stare, I couldn’t help but notice that Elizabeth looked absolutely radiant! Her hair was long again, not curly, as it was in the Edna Buchanan TV movies, but with a more relaxed flip, reminiscent of Samantha Stephens. She wore a burgundy dress and heels that accentuated her shapely legs, and she looked phenomenal!
No one would have believed that she too, would be gone only eight months later.
After the service, we were all invited over to Dick’s house; a lovely cottage built into the mountains of the Hollywood Hills that overlooked the valley. It was especially beautiful that night, watching fireworks shoot into the sky from Universal Studios.
As we walked inside, I found it a little odd that the kitchen was in the process of being remodeled. The refrigerator and stove had been moved and were sitting at odd angles, and all the flooring had been torn out, exposing the sub-floor.
On an easel in the living room was a large, color, abstract painting of Dick. But noticeably absent from the rest of the house were mementoes of his career; the exception was a color photo of him and Elizabeth used as a TV Guide cover shortly after he took over the role of Darrin Stephens.
This was also the evening that Sandra Gould introduced me to Elizabeth Montgomery. Now I finally had the opportunity to tell her how much Bewitched meant to me, but I
Similar Books
