Days of Our Lives has been on for 59 years and will be showing its 15,000th episode on December 2nd. The milestone also marks the show’s official farewell to the late Bill Hayes, who played Doug Williams until his death in January.
The cause of Bill’s death is yet to be revealed, but his agent Gregory David Mayo confirmed that he died peacefully and surrounded by family in his Los Angeles home. He was 98 when he passed, having spent the last five decades on Days of Our Lives.
A sneak peek into Bill Hayes’ ‘Days of Our Lives’ tribute episode
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The episode shows Bill’s TV wife, Julie Williams (who is also his real-life widow, Susan Seaforth-Hayes), clinging to a photo of him at his memorial. She painfully admits it is time to let him go while acknowledging the presence of friends and family at the somber event.
Kristian Alfonso’s Hope Brady is seen leaving flowers at the grave while fighting tears and muttering her love for Doug. Bill saw his co-stars as family and celebrated his 98th birthday on set six months before his passing. He also met Susan while working on the long-running soap, and they shared their first on-screen kiss years before becoming husband and wife.
Bill Hayes’ wife says the emotional scene was hard to do
Susan felt honored to be a part of her late husband’s tribute; however, she admitted to finding the 15,000th episode difficult. She added that filming it helped her grieve because the cast, crew, and producers never let her deal with the loss alone.
She also looks forward to watching the tribute, noting that she is expecting a perfect display on December 2 and would not miss it for anything in the world. Per the longevity of the show, Susan says they are happy to onboard young talent in order to please every generation.