Longtime Days of Our Lives star Bill Hayes, who has played Doug Williams on the soap since 1970, has passed away at the age of 98.
Bill Hayes: A Lifetime In Show Business
Hayes began his career back in the 1950s as a regular on the Sid Cesear variety program Your Show of Shows as both a singer and comedian and made it to number one on the music charts in 1955 with the song The Ballad of Davy Crockett. His music career also sent him on the road with a nightclub act he performed with Florence Henderson, who later went on to star as Carol Brady in the classic sitcom The Brady Bunch.
But, it was the role of former conman-turned-singer-turned-restauranteur Doug Williams that brought him to daytime fame in 1970 and also changed his life. That’s where he was partnered on-screen with Susan Seaforth’s Julie. Off-screen, Hayes and Seaforth fell in love and married in 1974, but Doug and Julie had to wait two more years to finally say ‘I do’ in 1976. That was the year the Hayeses also appeared on the cover of TIME Magazine in an issue that explored “Soap Operas: Sex and Suffering In The Afternoon.”
Bill Hayes Was Beloved Through The Years
Through the years, Hayes often sang on Days of Our Lives as Doug owned his own nightclub. We last saw him sing just this past fall when Dick Van Dyke appeared in a scene with both Bill and Susan and performed “Tea For Two.”
In recent years on DAYS, we got to see Doug more and more, with him featured during the last devil possession story. Doug was the first of many characters to be possessed, showing off Hayes’ comedic talents to their fullest.
Hayes was also an author, publishing the autobiography Like Sands Through The Hourglass with wife Susan in 2005. He also co-wrote a historical fiction book in 2012. In 2018, the Hayeses won a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Hayes is survived by Susan, his five children from his first marriage, as well as 12 grandchildren, and 27 great-grandchildren.
Daily Drama sends our sincerest condolences to Hayes’ friends, families, and loved ones.
