It's the end of a long era on Days of our Lives when Bill Hayes's last episode as Doug streams on Peacock on July 11. The actor passed away on January 12 at the age of 98 but taped his final scenes just weeks before.
Thanks to DAYS' long lead time between taping and airing, we finally see the final tender moments between Susan Seaforth Hayes and her beloved husband of more than 50 years. Now, Seaforth Hayes has admitted she knew those scenes would be the end.
"I knew it that day and that was four weeks before he died," she told TV Insider. "And the last few shows that he did, he was completely blind. So there! In show business, you rise to the occasion or you never get to have another occasion. And he always did."
Seaforth Hayes went on to explain how their last scene ties to Chad's quest to find out if his beloved Abigail is indeed alive.
"The last scene that Billy and I shot together, it was created as a love scene, three-quarters of which is occupied by storyline about Chad and his ongoing search for his lost love, and a transition to Doug and Julie telling each other how much they care about each other," she said.
The real-life and on-screen pair added their own special touch to the scene, which Seaforth Hayes described as a gift for fans from her husband.
"I was allowed to add some lines to the scene, between ourselves," Seaforth Hayes said. "The last line I wrote for Billy was, 'Give me another kiss.' So that's for the audience, and that's from him."
Despite this being the last time DAYS fans will see Doug, the character will live on until later this year. A memorial for Doug is set to air in December, with various actors returning to say their goodbyes, including Kristian Alfonso (Hope Williams Brady), Melissa Reeves (Jennifer Horton Deveraux), and Gloria Loring (Liz Chandler). The episode will coincide with DAYS' 15,000th episode.
What are your favorite Doug and Julie memories? Are you glad they got to have this last tender scene between them? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
