Doug Williams was Bill Horton's cell mate while he served his sentence for the manslaughter of Kitty Horton. Doug was in prison for a white collar crime, and during his conversations with Bill learned all about Salem, and Susan Martin who had inherited a fortune from her late husband David. After getting out of prison Doug went after Susan, but she didn't fall for his charm. However, Susan saw Doug as a way to come between Julie and Scott Banning, so she offered Doug money to have an affair with Julie. Susan would eventually come to her senses and call off the deal, but by that time it was too late. By the end of 1970 Doug was working as a singer at Sergio's and had fallen in love with Julie. Doug and Julie eventually made love, and he talked about marrying her if she left Scott Banning.

In 1972, when Doug was found out by Addie Horton Olson to be Brent Douglas, an orphan who had run away from an orphan edge at the age of 14 and had been conning his way through life. Doug and Addie formed a mutual friendship, but Addie wanted to be more than just friends.

In June of 1972, Doug planned a trip for himself and Julie, but the two quarreled the night they were to leave over whether Julie would bring her son David with them. Julie walked out on Doug, and when he dropped by Addie's she proposed marriage, and Doug accepted. In June of 1972 Doug and Addie married and honeymooned in Portofino. Upon returning to Salem Addie bought Sergio's and renamed it Doug's place as a wedding gift for her husband. Addie loved Doug greatly, and in time he came to love her as well.

In 1973, Addie and Doug learned they were expecting a child. However their happiness would soon be shattered when Addie learned she had leukemia. Addie slipped into coma, but awakened to give birth to her daughter Hope Williams on December 24, 1974. Soon after Addie's leukemia went into remission. Addie's health improved, and Doug and Addie were happy with little Hope. Addie's happiness wouldn't last for one day while crossing the street Addie was struck by a car and killed. Addie gave her life to save her baby Hope, whose carriage would have been struck by the car if she had not pushed the carriage out of the way. Doug was grief stricken and nobody seemed to be able to reach him.

In 1975, Doug decided to take Hope from her Grandparents and raise her himself, along with the help of a nanny he hired named Rebecca North. He also decided to give Hope a little brother, and went to Dr. Neil Curtis, who agreed to find an anonymous surrogate mother for him. Neil would eventually choose Hope's own nanny Rebecca North for the job.

In 1976, after Julie had divorced Bob Anderson, Doug and Julie became engaged. Hoping to have children with Julie, Doug told Neil he no-longer needed the surrogate child, and Rebecca North was allowed to keep her baby, and the money. Before they were to marry Doug's ex-wife Kim Douglas returned claiming she and Doug had never legally divorced. After months of trying to win Doug back Kim told him that they had been divorced legally for many years. Doug and Julie then continued with wedding plans and married in 1976.

In 1977, Doug's Place suffered hard times when Doug lost his liquor license and eventually the club. Julie would buy back the club and turn it into Doug's coffee house, and later that year Doug left Salem to take care of business. While away Doug was arrested for a drug bust, which was a frame up orchestrated by Larry Atwood who wanted Julie for himself.

In 1978, Larry Atwood would succeed in his plan and raped Julie. Julie was traumatized by the event and pulled away from everyone, including Doug. Doug felt Julie had turned his back on him because of the drug bust, but when Doug received a letter form Jeri Clayton accusing Julie of having an affair with Larry he believed it. Julie eventually told Doug about the rape, and soon after Larry was found dead. Julie would stand trial for his death, and during the trial Julie's rape was made public. Eventually Larry Atwood's assistant Arlo Roberts admitted to killing Larry, and Julie was cleared.

In 1979, Julie was badly burned on Maggie's farm, and when she felt Doug would no-longer want her, she got a divorce from him in Mexico. Later that year Doug inherited a large sum of money when his half-brother Bryan Carmichael died. Lee Dumonde came to Salem to seek out the Carmichael fortune, and Lee and Doug took up together when Doug thought Julie no longer wanted him, and eventually married on November 5th, 1979.

In 1980, Doug was eventually forced to close Doug's Place. Later that year he realized his marriage to Lee was a mistake, and wanted to divorce her to remarry Julie. Lee was furious, and tried to have Julie killed. When her attempt failed Lee tried to fake a suicide by overdosing on medicine. However she mixed the wrong medications and suffered a stroke which left her partially paralyzed. Her plan worked, Doug told Julie he could not leave Lee while she was paralyzed.

After divorcing Lee Dumonde in 1981, Julie and Doug were married again. However, Lee managed to turn little Hope against her father and Julie, and she refused to live with them, instead choosing to live with Tom and Alice Horton.

In 1982, Julie and Doug became involved in an adventure involving titanium deposits. A set of geological maps showed titanium deposits underneath Doug's place, and both Stefano and Stuart Whyland wanted to get their hands on the. Stefano and Tony had constructed a tunnel from the DiMera Mansion to the wine cellar of Doug's place in order to get the deposits, but in the end the entire titanium deposits ended up being a hoax.

In 1984, Doug caught his daughter Hope and Bo Brady on the verge of making love. The site shocked him, and he had a coronary. At the hospital Doug asked Hope to stay away from Bo, and she did.

In 1986, Doug and Julie divorced. Doug rarely returned to Salem, and during a time that both Doug and Julie were out of Salem, they remarried. The two were blissfully happy together.

In 2003, Doug and Julie returned to Salem when the "Salem Stalker" serial killings began to be there for Jennifer, who had just lost Jack. Sadly, Doug himself was a victim of the killer. Once Marlena realized that Doug could identify her, she had to eliminate him.

Even though Doug was murdered by the Salem Stalker, nothing is forever in Salem. He wound up alive and well on the island Melaswen, and was both happy and sad to see his daughter, Hope, show up on the island. Luckily Doug was one of the island residents to survive and return to Salem, where he and Julie have begun putting their lives back together.

In the summer of 2007, Doug and Julie came to town to discover that Lexie had been kept prisoner in the tunnels underneath the old "Doug's Place". They helped rescue Lexie and nurse her back to health.

Doug and Julie returned the following summer for Bo and Hope's 4th of July BBQ with advice for Bo and Hope about dealing with Chelsea dating someone that they don't initially approve of. They returned a few weeks later to watch Bo and Hope renew their wedding vows.

Over the next few years, Doug and Julie continued to call Salem their home, but still traveled often. Unfortunately in 2010, Julie was dealt two painful blows. In January, her Uncle Mickey passed away. Months later, in June, her beloved grandmother, Alice, died as well. Julie took her passing extremely hard, but Doug was there to support his wife and the rest of his family.