Overview

Kathryn Hays (born Kay Piper; July 26, 1933 – March 25, 2022) was an American actress whose career spanned decades of television. She is widely remembered for her long-running role as Kim Hughes on the CBS soap As the World Turns, a character she played from the early 1970s into the 2000s. Hays’s steady presence on daytime drama made her a familiar figure to multiple generations of viewers.

Early life

Hays was born in Princeton, Illinois, and raised in Joliet. Details about her childhood and training are relatively modest in public records, but she moved into television work during the 1950s and 1960s when broadcast drama and sitcoms offered expanding opportunities for performers.

Television career and notable roles

Before her signature soap role, Hays appeared frequently on episodic television throughout the 1960s and 1970s, often in guest parts on popular series of the era. Her credits include appearances on medical and western dramas as well as later crime procedurals. She returned periodically to prime-time television even after becoming established in daytime drama.

  • Long-term soap role: Kim Hughes on As the World Turns (1972–2010)
  • Guest roles on shows such as Law & Order and its spin-offs
  • Earlier television work on series of the 1960s and 1970s, including episodic westerns and medical dramas

Personal life and legacy

Hays was married to actor Glenn Ford from 1966 to 1969. She maintained a private life off screen while remaining professionally active for many years. Colleagues and fans remembered her for a warm, resilient screen presence and for bringing nuance to a long-running soap character, contributing to the genre’s continuity over decades.

Death

Kathryn Hays died on March 25, 2022, in Fairfield, Connecticut at the age of 88. Obituaries and tributes highlighted her lengthy tenure on As the World Turns and her many guest appearances that mirrored the evolution of American television from the 1960s onward.

Selected television appearances and stage credits are often listed in media databases and retrospective articles for readers seeking a complete filmography. For general information about the soap and series where she appeared, consult television archives and historical summaries of American broadcast drama.