Sargent was a trim, handsome man with a longish chin. He played a variety of gawky businessmen roles in feature films before finding a niche in tv history as the second Darrin on "Bewitched". Shortly before his death, Sargent publicly proclaimed he was gay, and became what he called "a retroactive role model" in the battle for gay rights.
Dick appeared on the game show "Tattletales" with Fanny Flagg in the 1970's. Apparently they were dating at the time. His father, Elmer Cox, was a World War I hero and a Hollywood business manager. His mother, Ruth McNaughton, was a film actress. Sargent's companion from 1989-1994 was writer/producer Albert Williams. His role on "Bewitched" was first offered to him in 1964, but he was under a contract with Universal Studios, so Dick York was hired instead. By the time an illness caused York to discontinue the role, Sargent was free enough to take over. He was never married, but had a long-time companion whom he was with for 20 years before the man's death from a cerebral hemorrhage in 1979. He had "manufactured" a wife to the press in the early productive days, to protect his career. His grandfather, John McNaughton, founded Los Angeles's Union Stockyards. Lived in Mexico and ran and import/export business in his early years. His love for Mexican art and culture stayed with him for the rest of his life. Coincidentally, Dick Sargent and Tammy Grimes were said to have been original choices for the roles of Darrin and Samantha Stephens during the initial casting of the pilot episode of "Bewitched" in 1964. Sargent bowed out due to a contractual committment to Universal. Grimes also had contractual problems. Later, Sargent went on to play Tammy's brother on her short-lived series "The Tammy Grimes Show" in 1966. Grimes' lead character's name happened to be Tamantha. By chance became a "retroactive role model" for gays when he outed himself in 1991, after decades of keeping his personal life hidden. Suffering from prostate cancer, Sargent was compelled by a tabloid article indicating he had AIDS to "come out" and set the record straight, for which he received considerable public support. In 1992, his old friend and ex-TV wife, Elizabeth Montgomery, joined him as a co-Grand Marshall of the Los Angeles Gay Pride Parade. It was their last appearance together.