American comedian Bill Hayes, best known for playing Doug Williams in the cult series "Days of Our Lives," died Friday in Los Angeles at the age of 98, The Hollywood Reporter reveals.
This information was confirmed by a representative of the famous soap opera launched in 1965 and whose 59th season is underway, making it the second longest-running series in the history of television, behind "Haine et passion", according to Télé Loisirs.
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"It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of our beloved Bill Hayes. (...) Bill portrayed the role of Doug Williams in 1970, one of the longest-running characters in Days of Our Lives, and performed it continuously throughout his life," the statement continued. Indeed, Bill Hayes joined the series only five years after the program's launch and until 2023, despite increasingly sporadic appearances in recent years.
Fighter pilot during the Second World War
This American soap opera broadcast daily on France 2 from 2,000 to 2,016 stages various intrigues at the center of which are several families of the city of Salem. It was on the set of the series that the actor met the woman who became his second wife, actress Susan Seaforth, also his wife in the series and with whom he appeared on the cover of Time in 1976.
Bill & Susan Seaforth Hayes on the cover of Time magazine. #RIPBillHayes #days pic.twitter.com/GJsjLZcT2A
— Jarlena4ever ❤️ (@ElaErica) January 13, 2024
Bill Hayes began his career in the U.S. Army where he becamea fighter pilot during World War II, before being awarded the World War II Victory Medal.
He then left the military to devote himself to a career as a singer and actor. A singer on a famous American variety show called "Your Show of Shows", he released "The Ballad of Davy Crockett", a single that stayed at number one for five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1955, sold two million copies and won a gold record.
Hayes is survived by his wife, five children, 12 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren.