Bill Hayes (actor)
William Foster Hayes III (June 5, 1925 – January 12, 2024) was an American actor and recording artist. His song "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" hit the top of the Billboard charts between March and May 1955.
Bill Hayes
January 12, 2024 (aged 98)
Actor, singer
1948–2023
5
Following a successful career as a musician that began in the late 1940s, Hayes began to focus on dramatic acting parts in the late 1960s, which led him to be cast in a role that gained him additional fame to 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.
Early life[edit]
Hayes was born in Harvey, Illinois, on June 5, 1925. He attended Whittier Grade School and Thornton Township High.[1] In March 1943, while a freshman at DePauw University, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy Air Corps, and received his welcome letter on his eighteenth birthday ordering him to report for active duty on July 1.[1] For the next 27 months, he trained to be a fighter pilot. He was two weeks shy of receiving his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Marine Air Corps, scheduled to fly an F8F off a carrier, when World War II ended.[1] He was awarded the American Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.[1] Given the choice of reenlisting in the Navy or getting out immediately, he opted for civilian life. After five weeks of hitchhiking around the Midwest to celebrate with buddies who were also coming home, he returned to complete his Bachelor of Arts requirements at DePauw University, where he was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and graduated in June 1947 with a dual major in Music and English.[1]
In 2016, the Bill Hayes Prize in Musical Theater was created by the National Association of Teachers of Singing.
On April 29, 2018, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences presented Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes with Lifetime Achievement Awards at the 45th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards.[51]