Kathryn Hays

• Name — Kathryn Hays • Birth Name — Kay Piper • Born — 26 July 1934 • Birthplace — Princeton, Illinois, U.S. • Died — 25 March 2022 • Place of death — Fairfield, Connecticut, U.S. • Known for — Kim Sullivan Hughes on As the World Turns • Occupation — * Actress • model • Years Active — 1962–2010 • Children — 1 Kathryn Hays (born Kay Piper; July 26, 1934 – March 25, 2022) was an American actress, best known for her role as Kim Hughes on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns from 1972 to 2010.

Hays was born in Princeton, Illinois, the only child of Roger and Daisy (Hays) Piper. Her parents divorced shortly after her birth. Hays was raised by her mother, who was a bookkeeper and a banker, and her stepfather, salesman Arnold Gottlieb. Hays grew up in Joliet. She graduated from Joliet Central High School in 1952. Hays took classes at Northwestern University and worked as a department store model and then she was in television commercials in Chicago. She moved to New York City to continue her modeling career and become one of the highest paid models. In 1962, she changed her name to Kathryn Hays (using her mother's maiden name as her last name).

In 1972, Hays was cast as Kim Sullivan Hughes on CBS's As the World Turns. She was originally hired for six months. Hays remained with the show until its final episode on September 17, 2010. The character of Kim was a pivotal heroine on the show for over thirty years. Hays was prominently featured in the 50th anniversary episode of the show, which aired in April 2006. In May 2020, she appeared in an As The World Turns reunion episode of The Locher Room, one of a series of YouTube episodes reuniting various soap actors, as well as being the subject of a The Locher Room tribute in 2022.

• Illustration — Glenn Ford and Kathryn Hays on their wedding day in 1966 Hays' first marriage was to salesman Sidney Steinberg in 1957, with whom she had a daughter. In 1964 she met actor Glenn Ford at a Hollywood dinner party. In 1966, she married Ford; the couple divorced in 1969. Her third husband was Wolfgang Lieschke, who was employed in the advertising industry. She also enjoyed music, church, and dogs. Hays died on March 25, 2022, in Fairfield, Connecticut. She had been living in an assisted living facility at the time of her death. Her daughter participated in a November 2022 fan tribute on The Locher Room YouTube channel that honored Hays; in the interview, she said that Hays had had dementia in the years prior to her death. Hays was honored at the 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards in a video montage where actor Don Cheadle opened the In Memoriam with: "We were their friends, colleagues, and their fans. Regardless of relationship, we knew and loved the actors that we loved and lost last year. We traveled with them on unforgettable journeys; they told us the best stories".

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1962 — Hawaiian Eye — Jean Morgan — Episode: "Total Eclipse" • Surfside 6 — Joy Allen — Episode: "Many a Slip" • Naked City — Beth Rydecker — Episode: "The Rydecker Case" • 1963 — The — Rachel Trafford — Episode: "Moment of Rage" • Wide Country — Lila Never — Episode: "The Girl from Nob Hill" • Dr. Kildare — Gina Beemis — Episode: "An Island Like a Peacock" • Route 66 — Judith Kane — Episode: "Shadows of an Afternoon" • The — Carol Wayden — Episode: "Cool of the Evening" • The — Hallie Lambert — Episode: "What Did She Mean by Good Luck?" • 1964 — The — Sheila Warren — Episode: "Climb a Broken Ladder" • Mr. Novak — Jenny Peterson — Episode: "One Way to Say Goodbye" • Arrest and Trial — Joanne Collins — Episode: "He Ran for His Life" • Bonanza — Prudence Jessup — Episode: "The Wild One" • The — Katy Vronis — Episode: "King of the Hill" • 1965 — The — Joyce Dailey — Episode: "One of the Family" • The — Charity — Episode: "A Slight Case of Charity" • The — Mary Pilgrim — Episode: "The See-Paris-and-Die Affair" • Branded — Christina Adams — Episode: "Very Few Heroes" • Kraft Suspense Theatre — Terry Camion — Episode: "Kill Me on July 20th" • 1966 — Run for Your Life — Belle Frazer — Episode: "The Cruel Fountain" • The Merv Griffin Show — Self — Episode: "Glenn Ford, Kathryn Hays, Irene Ryan, Barrie Chase, Georgie Kaye" • 1966–67 — The Road West — Elizabeth Reynolds — Main role • 1967 — The Hollywood Squares — Self — 15 episodes Panelist • 39th Academy Awards — Audience Member • Vacation Playhouse — Betsy Fleming — Episode: "You're Only Young Twice" • 1968 — The — Frances O'Toole — Episode: "Tornado Frances" • Mannix — Betsy Charnik — Episode: "The End of the Rainbow" • Star Trek — Gem — Episode: "The Empath" • 1969 — Here Come the Brides — Dena — Episode: "A Kiss Just for So" • This Savage Land — Elizabeth Reynolds — Made-for-TV movie directed by Vincent McEveety • 1970 — Breakout — Ann Baker — Made-for-TV movie directed by Richard Irving • 1971 — The — Marcy — Episode: "An Absence of Loneliness" • Yuma — Julie Williams — ABC Movie of the Week directed by Ted Post • Marcus Welby, M.D. — Ellen — Episode: "In My Father's House" • Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law — Lori Phillips — Episode: "Nothing Personal" • Bearcats! — Milly Todd — Episode: "The Return of Estaban" • The Guiding Light — Leslie Jackson Bauer, RN #2 — Three month contract • 1972 — Cade's County — Helen Derman — Episode: "Ragged Edge" • Night Gallery — June — Episode: "She'll Be Company for You" • 1972–2010 — As the World Turns — Kim Sullivan Hughes — Contract role held from August 31, 1972 to September 17, 2010 • 1973 — Circle of Fear — Janet — Episode: "Legion of Demons" • 1975 — ABC's Wide World of Entertainment — Self — Episode: "A Salute to Daytime Dramas" • 1977 — After Hours: Getting to Know Us — TV special • 1989 — American Playhouse — Harriet Rodker — Episode: "Ask Me Again" • 1999 — Law & Order — Gloria Blumberg — Episode: "Sundown" • 2006 — SoapTalk — Self — Episode: "5 April 2006" • 33rd Daytime Emmy Awards — As the World Turns Tribute • 2007 — Law & Order: Special Victims Unit — Jane Willet — Episode: "Florida" • 2010 — One Life to Live — Kim Hughes — Episode: "Shiver Deep, Mountain High" • 2023 — 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards — Self — In Memoriam

Early in her career, Hays made numerous appearances on episodic TV, and made a few later in her career. In 1968, she guest starred in Star Trek as the eponymous central character in the episode “The Empath”, playing a mute alien with healing powers. She also had appearances in The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Road West, and the 1964 Mr. Novak episode "One Way to Say Goodbye". She guest starred in episodes of Hawaiian Eye, Surfside 6, Naked City, Route 66, The High Chaparral, Here Come the Brides, Marcus Welby, M.D., and Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law. Hays guest starred in Bonanza, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Virginian, and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. In a 2010 interview with the website We Love Soaps, Hays said of the early appearances: "It was a great time to begin a career. It was when the guest stars on the primetime shows were almost always women. The running star would be a man. The main storyline would be a very rich part to play." She was in episodes of Mannix and Night Gallery with Leonard Nimoy. In 1972, Hays guest starred on an episode of Cade's County. Hays also appeared in the films Ladybug Ladybug (1963), Ride Beyond Vengeance (1966) and Counterpoint (1968). She was considered for the role of Neely O'Hara in Valley of the Dolls (1967), but the role ultimately went to Patty Duke. Hays was in the TV films This Savage Land, Breakout and Yuma as Julie Williams. In later years, her TV appearances included Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and in 2010 on One Life to Live. Prior to her role on As the World Turns, Hays played the role of nurse Leslie Jackson Bauer, RN on The Guiding Light for three months. In 1977, she, along with Michael Allison, Meg Bennett, David Hasselhoff, Don Stewart, and Tudi Wiggins, starred in a CBS TV special entitled After Hours: Getting to Know Us. Hays appeared in Broadway productions several times, including a regional production of Dames at Sea with Bernadette Peters. She was in the productions of Ladybug, Ladybug, The Irregular Verb to Love, and Hot September. Hays was in summer stock productions of Show Boat, Richard Rogers' Two By Two, Follies, and A Little Night Music. In 1982, she was in the one-woman Broadway play Love Notes where she performed One Step, Broadway Baby from Follies, I Can Do That from A Chorus Line, and If I Loved You from Carousel.

• Year — Title — Role — Director(s) — Notes • 1963 — Ladybug Ladybug — Betty Forbes — Frank Perry — Docudrama Based on They Thought the War Was On by Lois Dickert • 1966 — Ride Beyond Vengeance — Jessie Larkin Trapp — Bernard McEveety — Western film Based on The Night of the Tiger by Al Dewlen. • 1968 — Counterpoint — Annabelle Rice — Ralph Nelson — War film Based on the novel The General by Alan Sillitoe

• Year — Award — Category — Title — Role — Result — Ref. References • 1998 — Soap Opera Digest Award — Editor's Choice — As the World Turns — Kim Sullivan Hughes