Thursday’s airshow marked the final time that the late, great Bill Hayes will be seen on Days of our Lives. Fittingly, his final scene was opposite his reel-life and real-life love of over 50 years, Susan Seaforth Hayes (Julie Williams).

Bill Hayes Is Bid Adieu

Though his appearance in the proceedings was comparatively brief, Hayes, masterful performer that he was, managed to effortlessly shill Yellowstone, hilariously distill the absurdist remit of the soap opera — “Stranger things [then Abigail surviving the Grim Reaper] have happened in this town of ours.” — and telegraph Doug’s abiding love for his missus…even when she’s on a tear.

For years, decades really, the true delight derived from scenes featuring Doug and Julie was the unmistakable parallels with their portrayers. As Bill and Susan’s attraction to one another blossomed, so did the one between their Salem counterparts. When Doug and Julie exchanged wedding vows, elements from the Hayeses’ own deeming were incorporated. Just as Julie became stepmother to Doug’s daughter (and her half-sister…it’s a soap opera, don’t ask), Susan gained a brood courtesy of her husband’s previous marriage.

So, when Julie proffered that she and Doug had “been a good team, good partners,” and that their love had “outlasted time,” there is little doubt in my mind that that was just as much a comment on Susan and Bill’s storied romance.

In all, DAYS did justice by its long-time leading man, the one who helped to catapult it in the ratings and into the hearts of the masses and onto the cover of TIME Magazine. Bill Hayes deserved nothing less.

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