CELEBRITY
Is Bill Hayes still on Days of Our Lives?
William Foster Hayes III was the birth name of the late American actor and recording artist Bill Hayes. He rose to fame in 1955 with his song “The Ballad of Davy Crockett,” which peaked at number one on the Billboard charts.
Born on June 5, 1925, in Harvey, Illinois, and Bill attended Whittier Grade School and Thornton Township High. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy Air Corps in 1943 and trained as a fighter pilot before returning to complete his Bachelor of Arts requirements at DePauw University. He was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and graduated in 1947 with a dual major in Music and English.
After a successful career as a musician, Hayes began to focus on dramatic acting parts in the late 1960s, leading him to be cast in a role that gained him additional fame for a younger generation. This new chapter began in 1970 when he originated the character of Doug Williams on NBC’s Days of Our Lives, which he continued to play until 2023.
He appeared on the variety show Your Show of Shows in the early 1950s. He also starred in the black comedy Stop, You’re Killing Me and was a key figure in the Davy Crockett craze in 1955. Bill Hayes‘ version of “The Ballad of Davy Crockett” was the most popular, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks and selling over two million copies.
He also starred in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Me and Juliet on Broadway. Hayes also had other small hits in the 1950s, including “The Berry Tree” and covers of “High Noon” and “Wringle, Wrangle.”
On Days of Our Lives, Hayes played a convict and lounge singer, Doug, who returned in 1986, 1987, 1993, and 1996. He was killed off in 2004 by Dr. Marlena Evans but later resurfaced alive on a tropical island. In 2017, a documentary about Hayes’s life was released online.
Is Bill Hayes still on Days of Our Lives?
No, the Late American actor Bill Hayes, who plays Doug Williams on NBC’s Days of Our Lives, ended his cast role in 2023. Sadly, on January 12, 2024, he passed away at the age of 98.
Source: DKlassgh.net
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