The soap star who warmed hearts for four decades

1934–2022

Kathryn Hays signed a sixmonth contract in 1972 to appear on the CBS daytime soap opera As the World Turns. Her character, Kim Hughes, started as a stereotypical homewrecker, but over nearly four decades she evolved into the de facto matriarch of the fictional town of Oakdale, delivering catchphrases like “kiddo” and “toots” every day right up to the show’s 2010 finale. Hays also had a memorable appearance on the original Star Trek TV series in the 1960s. Beloved by soap fans, Hays’ character Kim matured over the years but never outgrew the occasional catfight. “The thing that was great for me,” Hays said, “was knowing that if Kim got pushed too far, or too hard, she could turn around and deck you—verbally, not physically.”

Kathryn Hays

Born Kay Piper in Princeton, Ill., she was raised by her mother, a bookkeeper and banker, after her parents divorced soon after her birth, said the New York Post. She took classes at Northwestern University, then changed her name upon pursuing a brief modeling career. Her TV breakout came in the 1966 Western series The Road West. In 1968, she “touched the hearts of sci-fi lovers,” playing a mute alien empath who heals Captain Kirk in an episode of Star Trek.

“Kim Hughes experienced standard soap-opera fare on As the World Turns,” said The New York Times, “from extramarital affairs to memory loss.” One episode in the 1970s touched on marital rape, then a taboo subject for TV. Hays managed the demands of taping an episode a day gracefully, earning the nickname “One Take Kathy.” After a long string of divorces and failed romances, she and her final onscreen husband exited the finale happily married.