Soap Opera star Bill Hayes, best known for the role of Doug Williams on Days of Our Lives, died on Jan. 5, 2024, at age 98. Hayes was married to his longtime Days‘ co-star Susan Seaforth Hayes when he died, so did Hayes and his wife have children?
Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes, met on the Days of Our Lives set and were married in 1974, according to NBC News. Hayes and Seaforth Hayes’ characters on the show, Doug and Julie Williams, also got married in a 1976 TV event watched by some 16 million fans. Meanwhile, thousands more viewers gathered afterwards to meet the beloved bride and groom at a special event after the episode was broadcast, Variety reported.
Seaforth Hayes, however, was Hayes’ second wife. Hayes and his first wife, Mary Hobbs, divorced in 1969, and after that year, Hayes had no more children.
Bill Hayes had five kids
Soap actor Bill Hayes married Mary Hobbs in 1947, and in the 22 years they were together, they had five children: Carrie, born in 1948; William IV, born in 1949; Cathy, born in 1951; Thomas, born in 1954; and Margaret, born in 1956; all of whom, along with their mother, survive the actor. Hayes and Seaforth Hayes had no children, but through his five kids, Hayes has 12 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
After Hayes’ death, Days of Our Lives executive producer Ken Corday said, “I have known Bill for most of my life, and he embodied the heart and soul of Days of Our Lives. Although we are grieving and will miss him, Bill’s indelible legacy will live on in our hearts and the stories we tell, both on and off the screen” (via THR).