American actor Bill Hayes, who starred in the soap opera “Days of Our Lives” for more than five decades, died at the age of 98.

He first played Doug Williams in 1970 and met his wife, actress Susan Seaforth Hayes, during the filming of the series, according to News.ro.

In June of last year, he celebrated his 98th birthday on the set of the American series surrounded by colleagues.

His agent told the BBC that he died on Friday surrounded by his family. The cause of his death has not been disclosed.

William Foster Hayes III was born in Harvey, Illinois in 1925. Gase began his career as a musician and had a hit with The Ballad of Davy Crockett.

He then began to focus more on acting and landed his most famous role on NBC’s Days of Our Lives in February 1970 as an inmate who also happened to be a lounge singer.

He continued to play the character of Doug Williams for the next 50 years until 2023.

His co-star Susan Seaforth Hayes joined the series two years before him, playing Julie Williams.

They played a couple on screen and later became a couple in real life, becoming husband and wife in 1974.

They said “I do” again — this time on TV — when their characters tied the knot two years later.

The popularity of their love story even landed them on the cover of Time magazine that year.

In 2018, he and Seaforth Hayes won a Lifetime Achievement Emmy.

Bill Hayes had five children from his previous marriage to Mary Hobbs.