- Written by Noor Nanji
- Culture correspondent
Image source, Getty Images
American actor Bill Hayes, who starred in the television series “Days of Our Lives” for more than five decades, has died at the age of 98.
He first portrayed the character Doug Williams in 1970 and also met his wife, actress Susan Seaforth Hayes, while filming the series.
Last June, he celebrated his 98th birthday on the set of the American daytime soap, surrounded by his co-stars.
His agent told the BBC that he died on Friday surrounded by his family.
The cause of his death was not revealed.
Born William Foster Hayes III in Harvey, Illinois, in 1925, Hayes began his career as a musician and had a hit with The Ballad of Davy Crockett.
Image source, Getty Images
Bill Hayes is married to Days of Our Lives co-star Susan Seaforth Hayes
He then began to focus more on acting, landing his most notable role on NBC’s Days of Our Lives in February 1970 as a convict who was also a lounge singer.
He continued to portray Doug Williams intermittently over the next 50 years, until 2023.
Its star, Seaforth Hayes, joined the daytime soap two years earlier, playing the role of Julie Williams.
The duo played an on-screen couple, and eventually became a real-life couple, tying the knot in 1974.
And they went on to say “I do” again — this time on TV — when their characters married each other two years later.
The popularity of their romance even led to them appearing on the cover of Time magazine that year.
In 2018, he and Seaforth Hayes received Daytime Emmys Lifetime Achievement Awards.
Hayes had five children from a previous marriage to Mary Hobbs.