Wednesday, November 07, 2012

Interview with Days of Our Lives Star Bill Hayes


 





 





Until You Walk The Path, You Won’t Know Where it Goes is hosting actor, singer, and author Bill Hayes on November 8, 2012 at 1 pm eastern as he talks about his new novel Trumpet and his amazing career.
Best known as Doug Williams on the long running soap opera, Days of Our Lives, Hayes career includes credits in Vaudeville, Broadway, film, television, music and best selling author.



BILL HAYES burst onto the national television scene in Olsen & Johnson’s 1949 madcap series Fire-Ball Fun-for-All. From there he was tapped to be a featured singer on Your Show of Shows starring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca (1950-1954).


  















Hayes debut on Broadway in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Me and Juliet (1953-1954), and followed with a gold record for “The Ballad of Davy Crockett” (over 4,000,000 sold; still selling!), voted Best Record of 1955. He starred in the feature films: the Warner Bros. farce Stop! You’re Killing Me (1953), Otto Preminger’s The Cardinal (1963) and the award-winning Wrestling with God (1989). He was national spokesman for Oldsmobile for four years (1956-1960) and took Bye Bye Birdie on its one-year national tour (1961-1962).

His early career glittered with variety TV performances, including: Kate Smith (1956, 13 episodes), Ed Sullivan (1953), Perry Como (1955), Milton Berle (1955), Ernie Kovacs (1956-1957, 19 episodes), Patti Page (1957, 6 episodes), Jo Stafford (1958), Jack Paar (1957), Bing Crosby (1958), and the Bell Telephone Hour (1959 & 1960), et al. In addition to singing and dancing, he starred as a straight actor in such dramatic shows as U. S. Steel Hour (1957), Hallmark Hall of Fame (1957 & 1958), Carol Burnett’s Once Upon a Mattress (1964).


His 65-year career has also included vaudeville turns at the Chicago Theatre (1951 & 1955) and New York’s Roxy (1953); and cafés such as the Blue Angel (1950) and the St. Regis Hotel in New York (1958 & 1959), the Drake Hotel in Chicago (1961), and the Fontainebleau in Miami (1954)
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Theatre tours included Student Prince, Anything Goes, Camelot, On a Clear Day, Pajama Game. And, in addition to the Broadway revival of Brigadoon (1968), Bill’s considerable regional theater appearances included On the Town, Of Thee I Sing, Merry Widow, Miss Liberty, Music in the Air, Tree Grows in Brooklyn, South Pacific, Out of This World, Fanny, Dark of the Moon, Good News, Oklahoma!, Girl Crazy, Who Was That Lady?, Where’s Charley?, Foxy, Sunday in New York, Green Grow the Lilacs, She Loves Me, Moon is Blue, Fantasticks Carousel, Song of Norway, Desert Song, Guys & Dolls, and George M! His list totals over 100 musicals and 30 straight plays!



Since 1970, Bill Hayes has portrayed “Doug Williams” on NBC’s Emmy-award-winning Days of our Lives (2,027 episodes to date!), garnering two Emmy nominations and several Best Actor Awards along the way.

Bill also appeared as a regular on Hollywood Squares and as a talk-show guest with Johnny, Phil, Dinah, Merv, Geraldo, Regis, Oprah and Martha.

In the 90s, Bill guest-starred in TV’s Matlock, Hooperman and Cop Rock. His 1992 stints with Ann Blyth at the Dunes in Vegas and Rainbow and Stars in Manhattan drew raves from the critics (“Not only does Hayes still belt ‘em out, he can tap!”).

His more recent stage work has included Amadeus (1985), 42nd Street and Same Time Next Year (1987), La Cage aux Folles (1988), Harvey (1989), Oliver! (1993), Damn Yankees (1995), I Do I Do (1986, 1996 & 1999), Glad to Be Unhappy (2000), Mame (2002-2003), I Remember You (2005), Follies (2007) and Chicago (2008).


He guest-starred on Frasier in 2002, headlined The Palm Springs Follies in 2004. Bill’s 2004 CD is titled “This is BILL HAYES;” and his 2005 memoir, co-authored with his wife Susan Seaforth Hayes, is called, appropriately, Like Sands Through the Hourglass. He’s still talking about the thrill of doing a series of concerts (2009-2010) with jazz-great Dick Hyman in The Musical Magic of Hayes and Hyman. He and his wife have penned a historical novel, Trumpet, published this year by Decadent Publishing, receiving critical acclaim.

Hayes Websites:
www.billandsusanhayes.com



Twitter: @DaysHayes

Tune into http://www.blogtalkradio.com/theresachaze on November 8, 2012 at 1 pm eastern to listen to Bill Hayes share the experiences as an author, actor, and singer. The phone lines and chat will be available for those who wish to ask questions. The phone number is (347) 838-9927.

The interview will be available in the archives at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/theresachaze/2012/11/08/until-you-walk-the-path-you-wont-know-where-it

TRUMPET
Brilliant and sassy Elizabeth Trumpet fantasizes starring on the London stage, but to become an actress in 1803 is tantamount to losing her virginity in the most debasing way.
After watching her mother die and her father lose his mind, the courageous sixteen-year-old must find a way to save her family. She scores her first acting job as a fencer—the deadly skill she learned from her brother training for the military. Blessed with talent and a rare singing voice, Lizzie pursues her career, learning from theatrical characters high and low.
When reckless actor Jonathan Faversham sets eyes on Miss Trumpet, he knows he’s found the partner of his life. But Faversham carries ruinous baggage from a dark past. Entangled in lust and ambition, Lizzie gives him her heart and they reach the heights together. Until Lizzie gets more applause than he…
From the magnificence of Regency palaces and the Theatre Royal Covent Garden to the sun-baked pyramids of Egypt and the arms of a real-life Samson, Lizzie is never far from trouble. As her brother rides to glory with Wellington in the Napoleonic Wars, great events threaten her survival. Danger lurks behind stage curtains, when a madman sets fire to take her life and she lifts a sword in revenge.
Will this once innocent girl, with her rise to stardom, be remembered for her art? Or for her shame?



















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