Amid Pri Month, The Hollywood Reporter tak a look back at the s, featurg Dick Sargent, who was a league wh Rock Hudson for livg the closeted Hollywood liftyle, and Pl Lyn, who played gay whout explicly g out as gay.
Contents:
- ‘BEWCHED’ AND BE GAY!
- HOW BEWCHED WENT GAY WHOUT EVER SAYG "GAY"
- HOLLYWOOD FLASHBACK: ‘BEWCHED’ HAS BEEN A GAY FAVORE SCE 1964
‘BEWCHED’ AND BE GAY!
In the actured, ntent tim, the one thg that we n all agree on is that Bewched was a super duper gay show. Right? It’s not jt me? Like the rt of you nerds, I’ve been thkg about Bewched a lot lately, ever sce got a ltle homage on WandaVisn. I ed to watch Bewched religly as a kid ( rens! I’m not that old) and my memori was extremely queer. But... * which bewitched husband was gay *
| Photo: Getty ImagPAUL LYNDE WAS GAYLyn was a picture-perfect image of a edic geni on mera, but much of his personal life was shroud mystery. One of such securi was his was gay at a time when was owned upon and wily unaccepted.
He feared that if his fans knew he was gay, would end his reer.
HOW BEWCHED WENT GAY WHOUT EVER SAYG "GAY"
He land gay rol, and beg gay real life ma even easier for the in to give an outstandg performance. | Photo: Getty ImagPAUL LYNDE ON "BEWITCHED" AND "HOLLYWOOD SQUARES"One of his gay rol was the 1960s classic ABC s, "Bewched. " In the seri, Lyn acted as Uncle Arthur — a gay man and uncle of the wch Samantha.
Not long after, the edian land another gay role which was arguably the highlight of his had tried to save his iend when he lost his grip by sperately grabbg his arm but uld not hold Lyn appearg the Walt Disney Televisn TV seri 'The Pl Lyn Show' cir 1972. Some clud playg gay rol, which the actor quickly turned down out of Lyn appearg the Walt Disney Televisn TV seri 'The Pl Lyn Show' cir 1972. “Bewched” was load wh some of the gayt stuff around, jt brimmg unr the surface.
Good and betiful wch Samantha (played by Elizabeth Montgomery, who was the lovelit, most supportive queer iend imagable) marri the mortal Darr Stephens (who, after a restg, was portrayed by gay actor Dick Sargent). BewchedIn the actured, ntent tim, the one thg that we n all agree on is that Bewched was a super duper gay show. It's a ltle strange to thk of as queer sce never actually had any explicly gay characters or same-sex upl.
HOLLYWOOD FLASHBACK: ‘BEWCHED’ HAS BEEN A GAY FAVORE SCE 1964
Other ss around the same time (M*A*S*H, All the Fay, Mary Tyler Moore) all had gay one-offs, but Bewched never did. So why do I remember as beg so gay — gayer, fact, than any of those other programs? I wish the show uld have gone gayer — to give Uncle Arthur, played extremely broadly by Pl Lyn, a boyiend.
But as an artifact of the late '60s and early '70s, Bewched still succeeds whout explicly gay ntent.