Bill Hayes

This biography of a living person does not cite any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. (August 2009) Find sources: (Bill Hayes (actor) – news, books, scholar)

Bill Hayes (born William Foster Hayes III on June 5, 1925 in Harvey, Illinois) is an American actor and singer.

Career

Hayes was a singer on the Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca variety show Your Show of Shows in the early 1950s. 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, and reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks.^[1] He also starred on Broadway in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Me and Juliet (1953). He had other small hits in the 1950s including "The Berry Tree" and covers of "High Noon" and "Wringle, Wrangle". "Wringle Wrangle" was his only other Hot 100 hit, reaching #33 in 1957.^[1]

Hayes is perhaps best known for his role as Doug Williams on Days of our Lives. Hayes originally played the role from 1970 to 1984. His singing career also found its way to his storyline on Days of our Lives; in the story, Doug was introduced as a convict who was also a lounge singer.

The character of Doug returned in 1986 and 1987, as well as 1993 and 1996. Most recently, he has been on the show since 1999, only to have his character killed off in the spring of 2004 by Dr. Marlena Evans (This was done to reduce the show's budget). In an elaborate plot hatched by head writer James E. Reilly, Doug Williams turned up alive on a tropical island and went home to his wife.

Personal life

Hayes graduated from DePauw University with a double major in music and English. He became a brother of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.

He has been married to fellow Days of our Lives co-star Susan Seaforth since 1974. His character's partnership with Seaforth's character, Julie, is widely considered to be the first supercoupling on the American daytime serials.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005, the couple published their joint autobiography, Like Sands Through The Hourglass.

Hayes was married to Mary Hobbs from 1947 to 1969 and share five children.

Roles

• Days of our Lives (Doug Williams: 1970 -1984; 1986-1987; 1993; 1996; 1999-2004; 2004-present)
• The Wednesday Play - In Two Minds (1967)
• Minstrel The Cardinal (1964)
• Frank Fermoyle (1963)
• True Story - Larry Foster (1961)

Awards and nominations

Nominations

• Daytime Emmy Award: Outstanding Actor, Daytime Drama Series (1975 & 1976)
• Soapy Awards Outstanding Actor (1965)

See also

• Doug and Julie Williams
• Supercouple

References