Bill Hayes
Born on June 5, 1925, in Harvey, Illinois, Bill Hayes was a singer and actor
best known for the chart-topping hit “The Ballad of Davy Crockett.” Enlisting in
the U.S. Navy Air Corps when he was 18, he trained to be a fighter pilot and was
scheduled to make his first flight when the call went out that Word War II had
ended. After he was discharged, he continued studying at DePauw University,
where he majored in music and English. He then attended Northwestern University,
where he earned a master’s degree in music. He then received his Ph.D. in
education from West Virginia Universi...
