FOR THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 2, 2019

DEAR JERRY: I noticed in one of your archived columns you mentioned a singer named Bill Hayes. Is he the same person as the actor who played in the TV show "Days of Our Lives"?

That Bill Hayes and I were in the same class at Thornton High School, in Harvey, Illinois
—Eileen & Robert Mulcahy, Chicago

DEAR EILEEN & ROBERT: I don't know whether it was one or both of you who attended school with Bill Hayes, but he definitely is the actor and singer. He was born William Foster Hayes III in Harvey, Illinois, on June 5, 1925.

As a pop singer, Bill Hayes was the first TV celebrity to have a No. 1 hit during the rock era. He did so in early 1955 with the million-selling "Ballad of Davy Crockett" (Cadence 1256).

His follow-up, "The Berry Tree" (Cadence 1261), made the Cash Box Top 40, and the Top 10 on the regional charts of at least five states.

In 1957, his "Wringle, Wrangle" (ABC/Paramount 9785) reached the Top 15 nationally.

Though Bill never had another hit record, he successfully continued his acting career, on stage, in films, and especially television.

From January 1972 to October 2019, Hayes, in the recurring role of Doug Williams, is credited on 2,330 episodes of the daytime TV soap opera, "Days of Our Lives."