Jaye P. Morgan, a leading female recording star of the 1950s who scored five hits in 1955 alone — among them “That’s All I Want From You” — before reinventing herself as a sharp, unpredictable presence on talk shows and game shows, has died. She was 94. Morgan later became especially associated with “The Gong Show,” where her anything-goes humor culminated in a notorious moment in which she removed her shirt on camera.
Morgan died Monday of natural causes in Longview, Washington, according to Mark Sendroff, her longtime attorney and friend. In recent years, she had been living with her nephew and niece, Duke Morgan Spencer and Peggy Sue Spencer.
Her biggest solo successes included the Top 10 singles “That’s All I Want From You” and “The Longest Walk.” She also reached the Top 20 with “Danger! Heartbreak Ahead,” “If You Don’t Want My Love” and “Pepper-Hot Baby.” Morgan found chart success in duets as well, landing two Top 20 hits with Perry Como — “Chee Chee-Oo Chee (Sang the Little Bird)” and “Two Lost Souls” — and reaching No. 47 on the Billboard singles chart with Eddy Arnold on “Mutual Admiration Society.”
As her recording career gave way to television, Morgan became a familiar face on “The Tonight Show” and appeared with Merv Griffin, Dick Cavett and Mike Douglas. She also turned up on popular series including “The Love Boat” and “Fantasy Island.” But for many viewers, her most memorable TV chapter began in 1976, when she joined the freewheeling celebrity panel on “The Gong Show” alongside personalities such as Jamie Farr and Rip Taylor.
The premise was simple and gleefully absurd: amateur performers took the stage to present their acts, while celebrity judges waited with mallets in hand. If a judge had seen enough, the gong was struck and the act was cut short. The winner of each episode received a check in the oddly specific amount of $516.32.
One of Morgan’s most talked-about moments came during an episode featuring Eugene Patton, the dancing stagehand beloved by fans as Gene Gene the Dancing Machine. As he began performing, Morgan opened her shirt and exposed her breasts — a stunt that helped hasten the end of the show’s run on NBC in 1978.
“It paid good money, and it was great exposure. I really enjoyed it,” Morgan told the Los Angeles Times in 1992, reflecting on her time with the show.
The New York Times captured the dual nature of her career in 1984, writing, “Jaye P. Morgan’s devil-may-care ad libs on television game shows have probably made her more famous as a personality than as a singer.” The paper added that “the same kooky recklessness that inspires Miss Morgan’s remarks is also a part of her musical sensibility.”
Her film credits include “The All-American Boy” with Jon Voight, “Loose Shoes,” “The Gong Show Movie,” “Night Patrol” and the 2002 Miramax release “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,” directed by George Clooney.
Jaye P. Morgan’s early life
Morgan was born Mary Margaret Morgan in a log cabin in Mancos, Colorado, and her show business career started early. At the age of 3, she was part of the Morgan Family, a traveling vaudeville act that included her mother, her father, her sister and five brothers. The group disbanded after their father’s death in 1945.
Morgan was class treasurer of her California high school and her peers nicknamed her J.P. after the 19th century financier J.P. Morgan. She later feminized it by changing the initial J to Jaye.
But by the time she was 17, she was singing professionally again, and in 1950 she joined Frank De Vol’s orchestra, singing with it for three years.
Her recording career got underway via “Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries” and “Just a Gigolo” with De Vol on a small label, Derby Records, that reached No. 26 on the Billboard chart. That led RCA Records to come calling with a recording contract.
She was a regular on the Robert Q. Lewis national daytime variety TV show and the nighttime game show “Stop the Music” hosted by Bert Parks. In 1954, DownBeat magazine’s annual DJ poll crowned her best new female singer of the year. She took her nightclub act on the road and made her Las Vegas debut at the New Frontier Hotel & Casino.
Morgan’s onscreen career
Morgan even got her own TV show in 1956 — “The Jaye P. Morgan Show,” which featured four of her brothers. Her solo albums include “Jaye P. Morgan” — produced by Davis Foster — “Jay P. Morgan Lately!” and a joint album with Kaye Ballard called “Long Time Friends.”
An appearance on “The Tonight Show” opened up a career for her on television talk shows and she kept returning to Johnny Carson for five years. “I take my body everyplace I go,” she joked to the host in a 1972 episode. She also was a guest on “The Odd Couple” playing herself and singing their goofy song “Happy, Peppy and Bursting with Love.”
During one memorable episode of “The Muppet Show,” Morgan appeared in a bird costume and seemed unhappy she was there at all. When Kermit tells her it’s a thrill to have her on, she replies: “I’m really indifferent about being here.” Kermit is aghast, calling the opening number cute. “I hate cute,” replies Morgan.
Other Morgan credits include a role in “Home Alone 2,” with Macaulay Culkin, appearances on “Love Boat” and “Fantasy Island,” and co-starring with Eddie Bracken in the national tour of “Sugar Babies.”
Married and divorced three times, Morgan is survived by a son, Paul Kane.
