Kathryn Hays Interview (March 23, 1982)

Vosot on the career of the actress and singer Kathryn Hays. Footage of Kathryn singing. Interview with Hays: is happy with her job.
Reporter: Gabriel, John

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.

Life and career[edit]
Hays was born Kay Piper in Princeton, Illinois, on July 26, 1934, the only child of Roger and Daisy (Hays) Piper. Her parents divorced shortly after her birth, and Hays was raised by her mother, a bookkeeper and a banker, and her stepfather, salesman Arnold Gottlieb.[1]

She grew up in Joliet.[2][3] She took classes at Northwestern University, and worked as a model. In 1962, she changed her name to Kathryn Hays (using her mother's maiden name for her last name).[1]

Hays' first marriage was to Sidney Steinberg in 1957, with whom she had a daughter, Sherri. In 1966, Hays married actor Glenn Ford; the couple divorced in 1969.[4] Her third husband was Wolfgang Lieschke, who was employed in the advertising industry.[1]

Episodic TV work[edit]
Early in her career, Hays made numerous appearances on episodic TV. In a 2010 interview with the website We Love Soaps, Hays said of those 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."[5]

In the 1966–67 television season, Hays appeared as Elizabeth Reynolds Pride in the NBC western series The Road West, with co-stars Barry Sullivan, Andrew Prine, Kelly Corcoran and Glenn Corbett. She played Sullivan's wife and Prine's stepmother (though she was only three years his senior). Corbett appeared as her brother, Chance Reynolds. In 1968, she appeared on Star Trek in the episode "The Empath" portraying Gem, a mute alien capable of assuming the pain and the injuries of others and, thereby, healing them. Other appearances included Marcus Welby, M.D, Bonanza, and Branded.

Hays also appeared in films such as Ride Beyond Vengeance (1966) and Counterpoint (1968) and in the TV film Yuma as Julie Williams. In later years, her TV appearances included Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Hays appeared on Broadway several times, including a production of Dames at Sea with Bernadette Peters.

As the World Turns[edit]
In 1972, she was cast as Kim Sullivan Hughes on CBS's As the World Turns. She remained with As the World Turns until its final episode on September 17, 2010.[6] 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.

Prior to her role on As the World Turns, Hays played the role of Leslie Jackson Bauer Norris Bauer R. N. #2 on The Guiding Light.[7]

In May 2020, she appeared in an episode of The Locher Room, a series of YouTube episodes reuniting various soap actors.

Death[edit]
Hays died on March 25, 2022.[1][8][9] She had been living in an assisted living facility at the time of her death.[1] Her daughter, Sherri Mancusi, participated in a November 2022 fan tribute on The Locher Room YouTube channel that honored Hays; in the interview, Mancusi said that Hays had dementia in the years prior to her death.[10] "Mom had dementia, that's what killed her and most people who have dementia are good at masking it," Mancusi said. "Mom was an Oscar contender, and she had people with her all day in her home and she was out in Illinois at that point. Having lived with an artist since the day I was born, I know something about artists and it's that they don't retire. She couldn't drive a car at that point or fix a meal or run her own life, but she could still do an interview, or do a show."

Film[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1963 Ladybug Ladybug Betty Forbes
1966 Ride Beyond Vengeance Jessie Larkin Trapp
1968 Counterpoint Annabelle Rice
1971 Yuma Julie Williams
Television[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1962 Hawaiian Eye Jean Morgan "Total Eclipse"
1962 Surfside 6 Joy Allen "Many a Slip"
1962 Naked City Beth Rydecker "The Rydecker Case"
1963 The United States Steel Hour Rachel Trafford "Moment of Rage"
1963 Wide Country Lila Never "The Girl from Nob Hill"
1963 Dr. Kildare Gina Beemis "An Island Like a Peacock"
1963 Route 66 Judith Kane "Shadows of an Afternoon"
1963 The Lieutenant Carol Wayden "Cool of the Evening"
1963 The Eleventh Hour Hallie Lambert "What Did She Mean by Good Luck?"
1989 American Playhouse Harriet Rodker "Ask Me Again"
1999 Law & Order Gloria Blumberg "Sundown"
2007 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Jane Willet "Florida"