He’s been a part of Salem for nearly 40 years and now, Days Of Our Lives star Bill Hayes is celebrating something that’s also pretty spectacular!
Today is Hayes’ birthday! He was born on June 5, 1925, which means he turns 94 years young today!
Hayes began his show business career in the early days of television, appearing on Your Show Of Shows, which starred Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. Hayes recorded a popular version of The Ballad Of Davy Crockett in 1955, selling over two million copies!
A divorced father of five, Hayes was cast on DAYS in 1970 as Doug Williams, a convict, who was hired by Susan Martin (Denise Alexander) to romance Julie Williams (Susan Seaforth Hayes) away from Scott Banning (Mike Farrell; Robert Hogan), the man Susan loved. After marriage to Julie’s mother, Addie (Patricia Barry), Doug and Julie were wed in 1976.
The pair fell in love in real life and were wed before their DAYS counterparts did. The couple is so popular, they were chosen to represent the soap genre on the cover of Time Magazine.
The Hayeses left DAYS in 1984 and Bill returned in 1986 and then again, briefly, in 1993 to usher Julie off the canvas after she had returned in 1990. The couple appeared often on DAYS throughout the 1990s, usually for a Horton family event and/or for Bo (Peter Reckell) and Hope’s (Kristian Alfonso) wedding.
It appeared that Doug was killed off for good on DAYS in 2004 when he fell victim to the Salem Serial Killer, who was believed to be Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall)! In the end, Bill and other “deceased” victims were alive and well on an island. It had all been (what else?) a DiMera hoax! They returned to Salem and were reunited with their loved ones.
Bill and Susan have continued to recur on DAYS since. Not too long ago, the show brought back the establishment “Doug’s Place,” which was a staple on the show in the 1970s and 80s.
Bill and Susan have penned two books – their memoir, Like Sands Through The Hourglass in 2006, and a novel, Trumpet in 2012.
Last year, Bill and Susan earned the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daytime Emmys. Soap Hub joins Bill’s family, friends, and fans in wishing the beloved star a happy birthday and many happy returns and you can too with the tweet link below.
Days Of Our Lives airs weekdays on NBC. Check local listings for airtimes.
Election Day in Salem - Days of our Lives (Episode Highlight)
Video Credit: The Entertainment Center
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