‘Days of Our Lives’ (DOOL) spoilers indicate that legendary Days actor Bill Hayes, who played Douglas Williams, has passed away at age 98. The soap opera community has lost a lot of special actors and actresses in the past year, and Hayes is no exception.
‘Days of Our Lives’ Spoilers: Douglas and Julie Williams Were Daytime Soap Opera’s First Super Couple
The actor was on the show for over 50 years. He was one half of the daytime soap opera’s first-ever super couple, Douglas and Julie Williams (Susan Seaforth-Hayes). They were at the core of the beloved Williams-Horton clan.
They say “art imitates life,” as the two actors fell in love off-screen and married in 1974. In 1976, the couple were married on the show and landed on the cover of TIME magazine. In fact, being on the cover of Time is a rare honor, especially for daytime television.
About the magical soap pairing that became the stuff of daytime television history, Hayes had this to say to Soap Opera Digest in 2018,
“Everybody in the country watched Bill and Susan fall in love, and Doug and Julie fall in love all at the same time.”
Hayes exclaimed,
“I put on my cowboy hat and my cowboy boots and went to Susan’s mother, and I got down on one knee and said, ‘I would like to have the hand of your daughter.’ She said, ‘Nope! You have to take the whole girl.”
Bill Hayes was born in 1925 in Harvey, Illinois. He served in the US Navy for two years and graduated from DePauw University in 1947 with an English degree.
‘Days of Our Lives’ Spoilers: Bill Hayes’s Career
Hayes aspired to get into acting. Bill was featured on “Your Show of Shows” in 1950, ” which co-starred Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca.
His first film role was in “Stop, You’re Killing Me,” In 1952. He also appeared on Broadway in Rogers and Hammerstein’s “Me and Juliet” in 1953.
He also recorded a version of the Ballad of Davy Crocket in 1955. It became number one on the Billboard charts, and he was awarded a gold disc. Hayes toured the country because of his number-one hit.
Hayes got his big break on Days of Our Lives in 1970. He played a con artist/lounge singer. He was on the show on and off for years until he returned permanently in 2004. Interestingly enough, he was killed off when he was murdered by the infamous Salem Stalker Serial Killer.
Like most of the other Days characters killed by the Salem Stalker, it was all a DiMera hoax, and Doug survived his brutal slaying. He ended up alive and well on the island of Melaswen.
A fun fact is that in 2017, Douglas, Susan, and their grandson, David Samuel, attended a taping of Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show. Jimmy invited Bill Hayes with him on stage to do an interview. Like always, Hayes was riveting and a class act.
The executive producer of Days, Ken Corday, commented,
“I have known Bill for most of my life, and he embodied the heart and soul of Days of Our Lives. Although we are grieving and will miss him, Bill’s indelible legacy will live on in our hearts and the stories we tell, both on and off the screen.”
For any other soap opera and entertainment news, please visit again Daily Soap Dish.
