re: Endless Sleep - The Obituary Thread

William (Bill) Foster Hayes III (June 5, 1925 – January 12, 2024) was an American actor and recording artist. His song "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" hit the top of the Billboard charts between March and May of 1955.

Hayes was a singer on the Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca variety show Your Show of Shows in the early 1950s. He had a supporting role in the 1952 black comedy Stop, You're Killing Me. During the Davy Crockett craze in 1955, three recorded versions of "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" were in the top 30. Hayes' version was the most popular: It was number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks, sold over two million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.

He also starred on Broadway in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Me and Juliet (1953). Hayes had other small hits in the 1950s, including "The Berry Tree" and covers of "High Noon" and "Wringle, Wrangle"; the latter was his only other Hot 100 hit, reaching number 33 in 1957.

The Ballad of Davy Crockett: Bill Hayes

Following a successful career as a musician that began in the late 1940s, Hayes began to focus on dramatic acting parts in the late 1960s, which led him to be cast in a role that gained him additional fame to a younger generation. This new chapter began in 1970 when he originated the character of Doug Williams on NBC's Days of Our Lives, which he continued to play until 2023.