Bill Hayes '47 Receives Lifetime Achievement Award at Daytime Emmys

April 30, 2018

A Washington Post recap, "You probably missed the Daytime Emmy Awards, but here are 6 moments you’ll wish you saw," includes mention of Bill Hayes, a 1947 graduate of DePauw University, and his on-air and real life wife, Susan Seaforth Hayes. The couple won Lifetime Achievement Awards yesterday for their more than 40 years of acting on TV's Days of Our Lives.

"They have some high-profile fans: Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston, making a surprise video cameo, shared a story about how he landed a three-day guest stint on Days of Our Lives back in 1980," writes Emily Yahr. "He accidentally overslept the first day and showed up hours late -- yet Bill Hayes was still extraordinarily kind to him."

The Post adds, "The couple also gave a choreographed speech that involved some singing, and reminded people that soap operas aren’t just escapist entertainment. Days of Our Lives has delved into issues from race to sexuality, they said, and the writers aren’t afraid to address hot-button topics."

Hayes noted, "They let us create drama that not only makes the audience laugh and cry … but feel and know that we care about what they’ve been going through in their own lives."

Access the item here.

Bill Hayes has performed on Days of Our Lives for 48 years. Bill Hayes Davy Crockett 1955.jpg His remarkable career has included a gold record for 1955's The Ballad of Davy Crockett (over 4,000,000 sold), appearances in feature films, two Emmy nominations and several Best Actor Awards, and numerous talk show spots.

After graduating from DePauw, where he was a Rector Scholar, Hayes earned a master's degree in music from Northwestern University and a Ph.D. in education from West Virginia University.

Bill Hayes Hourglass Book 2006.jpg Bill and Susan Seaforth Hayes authored Trumpet: A Novel of the Regency Era, as well as Like Sands Through the Hourglass. The two had a three-day residency at DePauw in 2016.