Bill Hayes: The Days of Our Lives Actor Passes Away

At the age of 98, American actor Bill Hayes, who spent more than 50 years as a cast member of the serial opera Days of Our Lives, passed away.

In 1970, he played Doug Williams for the first time. It was during the series’ filming that he got to know his wife, the actress Susan Seaforth Hayes.

Surrounded by co-stars on the American daytime serial set, he celebrated his 98th birthday in June of last year.

He passed away on Friday, his agency told the BBC, surrounded by his loved ones.

His death’s reason has not been made public.

In 1925, William Foster Hayes III was born in Harvey, Illinois. Hayes started out as a musician and achieved success with the song “The Ballad of Davy Crockett.”

After that, he started concentrating more on acting, and in February 1970, he was cast as a prisoner and lounge singer on NBC’s Days of Our Lives, which became his most well-known role.

He continued to play Doug Williams intermittently for the following fifty years, until 2023.

Seaforth Hayes, who plays Julie Williams in the daytime soap opera, joined the cast two years before to him.

The two began as an on-screen couple before getting married in 1974 and starting a real-life relationship.

When their characters married each other two years later, they said “I do” once more, but this time on television.

Their courtship was so well-liked that Time featured them on its cover that same year.

He and Seaforth Hayes were honoured with Daytime Emmys Lifetime Achievement Awards in 2018.

Hayes and Mary Hobbs have five children together from a prior marriage.

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