35 Star Trek Actors Who Died In 2022

Kathryn Hays appeared in the third season episode of The Original Series, The Empath. The episode itself received backlash over its darker themes than usual. She played Gem, a mute woman who was able to heal peoples' injuries by taking them on herself.

She made many guest appearances on television in her early career, for which she would later say she was grateful. In her opinion, it was a good time to start out in Hollywood, as the guest roles would generally go to women, and these roles would often have a bit of meat to them.

She worked for years on the soap opera As The World Turns. First cast in 1972, she played Kim Sullivan Hughes right through to the show's last episode in 2010, with her character proving to be a pivotal heroine through the years.

For the last few years of her life, Hays suffered from dementia, confirmed by her daughter Sherri Mancusi in an interview celebrating both her mother and the show. While she had been in assisted living when she died at age 87, Mancusi said that her mother was still well able to carry an interview, despite the limitations placed on her by the disease. She said of her mother, like many other career actors, simply never retired - they just kept going and got the work done.