Days Icons Susan Seaforth Hayes And Suzanne Rogers Celebrate Turning 80 Together
Two icons from the long-running soap opera "Days of Our Lives" recently celebrated their 80th birthdays together. Susan Seaforth Hayes took to Twitter to share a photo of her and Suzanne Rogers with slices of birthday cake. Rogers was born July 9, 1943, and Hayes was born July 11 that same year.
In Hayes' tweet, she mentioned their birthday celebrations and how Rogers is celebrating 50 years since her debut on "Days of Our Lives" in 1973. Hayes tweeted, "Legacy icons of #Days! Suzanne and I have celebrated our July birthdays together for 50 years! And this week Suzanne becomes a golden girl of Salem!" Hayes included a heart emoji and an hourglass emoji, since an hourglass is a common symbol for the soap opera, and added a final congratulations to both Rogers and herself.
Commenters on the tweet provided birthday wishes to both actors. One of the fans has been watching the show almost as long as Rogers has been on it. They said, "Love you both so much as actors and the characters you play on ["Days"], been watching over 40 years and still watching. Congratulations!"
Hayes met her husband on 'Days' shortly after being cast
Susan Seaforth Hayes has been on "Days" a few years longer than Suzanne Rogers — she was cast as the character of Julie Olson in 1968, five years prior to Rogers' casting as Maggie Simmons.
Susan met "Days of Our Lives" actor Bill Hayes in 1970. The two actors got married in 1974, and their characters Julie and Doug got married on-screen in 1976. While being interviewed by Rogers about some of the most challenging scenes Susan had to film, Susan mentioned a scene where Bill's character Doug was in a casket. Doug was not really dead, but seeing her husband like that "was absolutely terrible for me" (via YouTube).
On how to have a successful, lasting marriage like theirs, Susan and Bill recommend lots of love. In a joint interview, Bill told the Albany Herald, "That's our No. 1 secret. Give your lover a kiss first thing in the morning and the last thing at night." Susan added, "We have love scenes on the screen, so naturally we have to rehearse them at home. We need to practice a lot — we have to perfect them."