Days of Our Lives star Bill Hayes has died at the age of 98

Days of Our Lives star Bill Hayes has passed away at the age of 98, he starred in the soap for more than five decades. Bill Hayes met his wife, Susan Seaforth Hayes whilst he was filming Days of Our Lives, Bill played the character of Doug Williams and first starred in the soap in 1970. 

Although he was known as an actor, Bill started his career as a musician and had a hit with The Ballad of Davy Crockett. He was born William Foster Hayes 111 in Harvey, Illinois and died surrounded by his family. In June 2023, he celebrated his 98th birthday on the set of Days of Our Lives.

After starting his career as a musician, the BBC reported that he “began focusing more on acting, and landed his most notable role on NBC’s Days of Our LIves in February 1970 as a convict who was also a lounge singer. He went on to portray the character of Doug Williams on and off over the next 50 years, through to 2023.”

Bill Hayes’s wife Susan Seaforth Hayes played the character of Julie Williams and joined the cast of Days of Our Lives two years before Bill did. Bill and Susan played an on-screen couple and then became a real-life one, they married in 1974.

As well as marrying in real life, Bill and Susan’s characters married in the soap too, and their characters were so popular that they appeared on the cover of Time. Bill had five children from his previous marriage to Mary Hobbs. 

Both he and his wife Susan Seaforth Hayes were the recipients of the Daytime Emmy’s Lifetime Achievement Awards in 2018.