The July 11 (2024) episode of Days of our Lives not only marked Susan Seaforth Hayes’ (Julie Williams) 81st birthday but also saw the airing of the last episode to feature her late spouse, Bill Hayes (Doug Williams).

Susan Seaforth Hayes

During a chat with TVInsider, Susan Seaforth Hayes relayed that she knew these would be the final scenes she shared with Bill. “I knew it that day and that was four weeks before he died. And the last few shows that he did, he was completely blind. So there! In show business, you rise to the occasion or you never get to have another occasion. And he always did.”

Hayes also revealed she injected a little something extra special into the proceedings: “I was allowed to add some lines to the scene, between ourselves. The last line I wrote for Billy was, ‘Give me another kiss.’ So that’s for the audience, and that’s from him.”

The irony that the installment would air the day she celebrated another turn around the sun was not lost on the actress — nor was the fact that Hayes’ death date coincided with the anniversary of their visages being seen far and wide on the cover of TIME Magazine.

A wonderful memory! ❤️❤️ https://t.co/eQbpdkdJFD

— Bill & Susan Hayes (@DaysHayes) January 13, 2022

Susan Seaforth Hayes concedes that widowhood is “very lonely,” but she is keeping herself occupied both at home and, mercifully, on the soundstage: “There are so many treasures from Bill’s career that I’m still searching in my heart for where I should put them that they’ll have the most impact and mean the most to people. I need to finish the novel that Billy and I were working on for nearly 10 years…

The show has kept me alive, and Ken [Corday, executive producer] has been exceedingly sweet. And Ron Carlivati, our head writer, has asked me, ‘What do you think Julie is feeling?’ And I answered and he has created scenes that work that way, which has been very gratifying, very lovely.”

On Hayes she could but muse: “He was a super guy. So super that I knew on my wedding day [October 12, 1974] that he would never step away from me and this was his commitment for the rest of his life…Carly Simon had a song called ‘Love Is Eternal’, and there’s a line in the verse about where does the soul go? Does it soar like jazz on a saxophone? And I like to think of Bill’s as turning into music.”

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