Bill Hayes

Born: William Foster Hayes III on Jun 5, 1926 in H

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

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 Davy Crockett theme were in the top 30. Hayes' version was the most popular, and reached #3 for the year. He also starred on Broadway in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Me and Juliet (1953).

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.

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 believed to be the first supercoupling on the American daytime serials.

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

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