“Days of Our Lives” Star Bill Hayes Dead at 98

Born William Foster Hayes III on June 5, 1925, and was well known for his role as Doug Williams on Days of Our Lives. The role lasted for over 50 years after Hayes was cast in 1970 following some film roles. When the soap opera moved to the streaming service Peacock, Hayes continued to appear as recently as last year.

“I have known Bill for most of my life and he embodied the heart and soul of Days of Our Lives,” executive producer Ken Corday said in a statement. “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.”

Hayes won the Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 after two Emmy nominations early in his career.

Hayes was a singer on the Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca variety show Your Show of Shows in the early 1950s. He had a supporting role in the 1952 black comedy Stop, You’re Killing Me. During the Davy Crockett craze in 1955, three recorded versions of “The Ballad of Davy Crockett” were in the top 30. Hayes’ version was the most popular: It was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks.

Following a successful career as a musician, Hayes began to focus on dramatic acting parts in the late 1960s, which led him to be cast in a role that gained him additional fame to a younger generation. This new chapter began in 1970 when he originated the character of Doug Williams on NBC’s Days of Our Lives, which he continued to play until 2023.

In March 1943, while a freshman at DePauw University, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy Air Corps, and received his welcome letter on his eighteenth birthday ordering him to report for active duty on July 1. For the next 27 months, he trained to be a fighter pilot. He was two weeks shy of receiving his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Marine Air Corps, scheduled to fly an F8F off a carrier, when World War II ended. He was awarded the American Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal. Hayes returned to complete his Bachelor of Arts requirements at DePauw University, where he was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and graduated in June 1947 with a dual major in Music and English.

Hayes was married to Mary Hobbs from 1947 to 1969; they had five children. He was then married to his Days of Our Lives co-star Susan Seaforth Hayes beginning in 1974, until his death. Hayes died on January 12, 2024, at the age of 98.