Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 9, 1994 TAG: 9407120089
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Ron Wise, spokesman for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said Sargent died there of prostate cancer, first diagnosed in 1989. Wise said he had been admitted Wednesday.
In 1969, after parts on several failed sitcoms, Sargent replaced the late Dick York in the role of Darrin Stephens on ABC's ``Bewitched.'' York, who departed after five seasons because of a debilitating back injury and an addiction to painkillers, died in 1992 at age 63.
Following the end of ``Bewitched'' in 1972, Sargent continued to act occasionally, with guest appearances on such television shows as ``Taxi,'' ``Murder, She Wrote'' and ``L.A. Law,'' and in B-grade movies.
After mostly withdrawing from show business in his final years, Sargent returned to the news in 1991 when he announced that he was gay, ending what he said was an awkward facade he had maintained throughout his entire professional life.
``It was such a relief,'' he told an interviewer that year. ``I lived in fear of being found out. Now it's given me a whole new mission in life.''
by CNB