Doug Williams – from shady character to voice of reason and town confidant. From womanizer to one-woman man. He has had quite a journey over the last 50 years in Salem.
Who Is Doug Williams?
Doug Williams was born alongside his identical twin to parents unknown in Wheeling, West Virginia. Soon after, both were offered up for adoption but Doug, christened Brent Douglas, was never placed with a family.
Instead, he ran away from the institution when he was 14. Though he tried to use his innate skills as a singer to bring in cash, Doug was forced to pickpocket and scam unsuspecting passersby. At some point, the nascent criminal met and married a young Polynesian woman named Kim, who was actually a royal heiress – a fact Doug didn’t learn, owing to him abandoning his new bride.
His grifting eventually landed him in prison where he made the acquaintance of Bill Horton. Their initial interactions were far from pleasant. Doug spit out, “If you touch my bunk, I’ll kill you.” But in time they became good pals and Doug was entranced by the yarns his cellmate would spin about his large family and the place he called home.
Of significant interest to Doug were the tales concerning one Mrs. Susan Martin, whom he was told recently inherited $250,000 from her recently deceased husband. Upon his release, Doug traveled to Salem and attempted to romance the young and oh-so-rich widow, but Susan had his number.
Instead, she offered him a large sum of money if he would romance Julie Horton Banning and convince her to divorce her husband Scott. Doug, always up for a challenge, accepted the assignment.
Round About
But that assumed run-of-the-mill con-job inevitably led to actual affection and, eventually, white-hot passion. Doug and Julie’s romance became an epic love story fraught with seemingly endless spoilers.
Pretenders and An Example of Mother Courage
First, their affair was scuttled by Julie’s status as a Mrs. But even after she was widowed, they had to contend with Kim’s claim that she and Doug had never been divorced. When that hurtle was cleared, a bitter argument over travel plans ended with Doug marrying his fiancée’s mother, Addie Olson!
That union resulted in a pregnancy, but Addie had to decide between carrying the baby to term or undergoing chemotherapy treatments for her recently diagnosed leukemia. She chose the former option and to everyone’s great surprise, not only did she deliver a healthy baby girl – Hope Alice – but her illness went into spontaneous remission!
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By the time Addie did pass away – the result of pushing Hope out of the path of an oncoming vehicle – Julie was hitched to Bob Anderson. Luckily, a divorce was obtained and she and Doug were able to wed.
Unluckily, a kitchen accident and Julie’s vanity led to a dissolution of the union. Doug fell under the sway of the scheming Lee DuMonde – his brother’s widow. But Doug and Julie weathered the storm – as well as her rape by Larry Atwood and their accusations of being the villain’s murderer – and were able to once again marry.
Another divorce and reconciliation followed but since 1994, they have been wed and happily together – even managing to survive a plethora of health scares and numerous run-ins with Salem-based evildoers.
Doug Williams – Secret Father
For a time, between his widowerhood and his second marriage to Julie, Doug became consumed with the idea of becoming a father again and giving Hope a brother or a sister.
To further that goal, he became embroiled in a surrogacy program at the local hospital and his donation was used to impregnate Rebecca North, Hope’s nanny – a fact known only to the expecting mother and the program’s director, Neil Curtis.
When he and Julie reunited, Doug decided to sign away his rights to the unborn child and Rebecca, in turn, married Doug’s good friend Robert LeClair. The truth was eventually outed but rather than seek custody, Doug merely set up a trust fund for Dougie and let Robert raise him.
Businessman
After first arriving in Salem, Doug finally realized his ultimate dream – using his vocal talent to make a living. His first job was as the resident performer at a nightclub called Sergio’s – an establishment that his second wife purchased for him and renamed Doug’s Place.
That venture was nearly ruined thanks to the machinations of Larry Atwood, who caused Doug to temporarily lose his liquor license. Though Doug’s attempts to reform the club into a coffeehouse was a failure, the license was eventually restored.
In later years, Doug’s Placed was closed only to reemerge in the shell that was once Club TBD. Now, in celebration of Julie’s continued survival in the face of mounting health issues, it has been rechristened, Julie’s Place. Days of our Lives airs weekdays on NBC. Check your local listings for airtimes.
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