Thursday, February 1, 2018

Bill & Susan Hayes to Receive Lifetime Achievement Awards at Daytime Emmys

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) today proudly announced that Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes, stars of television, film and stage and Sid and Marty Krofft, two legendary television producers, will be honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards this year during the Daytime Emmy® Awards. The Krofft Brothers will be celebrated at the 45th Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards which will take place on Friday, April 27th, 2018, while Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes will be celebrated on Sunday, April 29th, 2018 at the 45th Daytime Emmy Awards. Both presentations will take place at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Southern California.

“I’ve been star-struck by the dynamic duo of Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes for decades,” said David Michaels, SVP, Daytime Emmy Awards, NATAS. “The scope of their work across the television, film and stage landscape is amazing. Their continuing roles of almost 50 years on Days of our Lives, where they also met and married, is a Daytime story like no other! Sid and Marty Krofft, our Daytime Creative Arts honorees, are masters of children’s television programming and have been part of my family viewing since the creation of H.R. Pufnstuf, Sigmund & the Sea Monsters and Land Of The Lost. Their terrific variety programs such as Donny & Marie on ABC and Barbara Mandrell & the Mandrell Sisters on NBC have only solidified the breadth of their talent across the television spectrum.”

While there are many other deserving soap opera stars that have dedicated many decades to the genre, it is nice the Daytime Emmys are finally honoring daytime actors again, for the first time in several years. Let's hope this starts a trend.

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BILL HAYES
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).

Bill made his Broadway debut 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!), acclaimed Best Record of 1955.

Hayes’s 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 the national spokesman for Oldsmobile for four years (1956-1960) and took Bye Bye Birdie on its one-year national tour (1961-1962).

Growing up with television, Bill’s 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). 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 (Yoemen of the Guard-1957 & Kiss Me, Kate-1958), Carol Burnett’s Once Upon a Mattress (1964).

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, George M!, and more! His list totals over 100 musicals and 30 straight plays!

Since 1970, Bill Hayes has portrayed “Doug Williams” on NBC’s Days of our Lives (2,085 episodes to date!), garnering two Emmy nominations and several Best Actor Awards.

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 on Matlock, Hooperman and Cop Rock, Frasier in 2002. 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!”).

More recent stage work: 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).

Bill headlined The Palm Springs Follies in 2004 and in the same year, released his CD titled “This is BILL HAYES.” In 2005 he co-authored their memoir with wife Susan Seaforth Hayes appropriately called, Like Sands Through the Hourglass. In December ’09-January ’10, Bill was paired with jazz-great Dick Hyman for a series of concerts in The Musical Magic of Hayes and Hyman. He and Susan once again joined forces and penned critically acclaimed historical novel, Trumpet, published in 2012. At this time, the sequel—Jubilee—is in its final editing process.

Bill has three degrees: Bachelor of Arts (DePauw University, 1947), Master of Music (Northwestern University, 1949), and Doctor of Education (West Virginia University, 1998).

SUSAN SEAFORTH HAYES
Susan Seaforth Hayes is a professional actress by trade and historian by desire. Her degree from Los Angeles City College is in history and the stack of books on her desk reflect an intense interest in the American West, European history, art history and Native American cultures. Had she not been so talented an actress she probably would be teaching or writing history books today

Ultimately, Susan was destined to spend her life on stage and in front of cameras. Her initial theatrical experience was at the age of four, playing “Trouble” to Dorothy Kirsten’s “Madame Butterfly” for the Metropolitan Opera Company. At age eleven, she toured a year with Billie Burke in Mother Was a Bachelor and as a developing teenager, she honed her crafts in the exciting world of television: Matinee Theatre, Lassie, Eve Arden, Wyatt Earp, Loretta Young, Danny Thomas; and films: Five Pennies, Angel in My Pocket, Billy, California.

While Susan plugged away at her college studies interspersing classes with film, TV, and stage work, she mastered comedy and drama on TV’s Dragnet, FBI, Death Valley Days, Bonanza, Hallmark Hall of Fame, My Three Sons, Fugitive, Hawaiian Eye, 77 Sunset Strip, Man from UNCLE, Wagon Train, Perry Mason, Emergency, Adam-12, and Ironside. She also gained stature in live performance on stage in Come Blow Your Horn, Mary Mary, Time Remembered, and Ring Round the Moon.

When she was cast again and again in the exciting/demanding world of TV soaps, Susan was finally forced to curtail her academic work. Young Marrieds (2 yrs), General Hospital (1 yr), The Young and the Restless (5 yrs), Sunset Beach and forty-nine (yes, 49!) years on Days of our Lives put a serious dent in her classroom attendance. The sudsy genre produced four Emmy nominations, several Best Actress Awards, a Time Magazine cover, many years of Top-Ten Lists in fan-mags, and even a husband when Susan Seaforth married her Days co-star Bill Hayes in 1974.

Some of her activities which have not involved performing include serving on the board of the Screen Actors Guild, addressing the House Judiciary Committee and the Republican Platform Committee, docenting at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage, and serving as an Elder and Board Member of the First Christian Church of North Hollywood. She has also lectured at Los Angeles Valley College on Native American religions and Boston University on acting for television.

The sweep of her credits in film, stage, and television include Oklahoma, The Two of Us, I Do I Do, Same Time Next Year, Harvey, Matlock, Heartbeat, Dream Machine, Wrestling with God, 42nd Street, Social Security, Mame, and a 1993 13-week tour of Oliver in Florida, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur! In the 90s, Susan wowed Birmingham audiences with her “Mama Rose” in Gypsy, toured Love Letters extensively, played the wily “Mrs. Rubinstein” on TV’s Platypus Man, and charmed West Virginia Public Theatre fans in A Christmas Carol and Cinderella.

In 1997, Susan co-starred in the premiere of Bernard Slade’s sequel play Same Time Another Year and in the spring of 1999, she created the role of District Attorney Steele on NBC-TV’s Sunset Beach. In 2007, she sang “I’m Still Here” in Follies and added Funny Girl to her credits in 2008.

Her memoir Like Sands Through the Hourglass, was published by Penguin-Putnam in 2005 and enjoyed robust sales. She and her husband published their first historical novel, Trumpet, in 2012.

Presently, Susan continues to add her personal spice to the role of “Julie” on Days of our Lives (over 3,900 episodes)!

SID & MARTY KROFFT
Many of the most colorful and fondly remembered children’s series of the 1970s and 1980s sprang from the imaginations of Sid and Marty Krofft. Their groundbreaking, live-action fantasy shows were mainstays of the Saturday morning airwaves, which had previously been the exclusive domain of cartoons. To this day, DVD box sets of beloved Krofft creations H.R. Pufnstuf, Lidsville, and Land of the Lost are brisk sellers, a testament to the artistry and charm of the Krofft brothers and the magical spell they cast on generations of TV viewers.

The Kroffts made their television debut in 1969 with NBC’s H.R. Pufnstuf, which centered on the magical adventures of boy named Jimmy, a talking flute and a six-foot dragon. The series, which introduced the brothers’ innovative mix of live-action and puppetry, was made into a Universal Pictures feature in 1970. The show continues to be broadcast around the world. Pufnstuf was quickly followed by on NBC (1970) and Lidsville on ABC (1971). Sigmund & the Sea Monsters and Land Of The Lost premiered on NBC in 1973 and in 1974, respectively. Later kids shows included Far Out Space Nuts, Lost Saucer and The Krofft Supershow, which included installments of Wonderbug, Big Foot & Wildboy, Electra Woman & Dyna Girl, Dr. Shrinker and Captain Kool and the Kongs.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the Kroffts also found success as producers of popular primetime variety series such as the top-rated The Donny and Marie Series on ABC and Barbara Mandrell & the Mandrell Sisters, which reached as high as #10 on the charts, along with the beloved The Brady Bunch Variety Hours.

In 1984, the Kroffts made the bold move of giving comedian Richard Pryor his own award-winning Saturday morning children’s series on CBS, Pryor’s Place. Besides capitalizing on Pryor’s irreverent humor, the show explored important social issues such as child abuse, divorce and the importance of reading. The Kroffts got political in 1987 with D.C. Follies, a satirical TV series lampooning current events with amazing, larger-than-life puppets of celebrities, politicians and newsmakers. In 2009, Sid and Marty were presented with the Pop Culture Award at the TV Land Awards.

As Sid & Marty are approach their “Golden Anniversary”, they are still going strong as they have created three series and five pilots in the past three years. The three series include the 2-time Emmy nominated Nickelodeon television series Mutt & Stuff, a remake of Electra Woman & Dyna Girl, which aired on Fullscreen from Legendary, and a remake of Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, which is currently airing on Amazon with David Arquette starring as Captain Barnabas. Included among the pilots are a remake of their beloved The Bugaloos and an original science series starring The Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik called Mayim’s WonderLab.

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The Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards and The Daytime Emmy Awards recognize outstanding achievement in all fields of daytime television and are presented to individuals and programs broadcast from 2:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. during the 2017 calendar year.

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