{"id":5984,"date":"2026-08-26T13:07:48","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T13:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5984"},"modified":"2026-08-26T13:07:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T13:07:48","slug":"jaye-p-morgan-singer-and-bawdy-gong-show-panelist-dies-at-94","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5984","title":{"rendered":"Jaye P. Morgan, Singer and Bawdy \u2018Gong Show\u2019 Panelist, Dies at 94"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
\n

\n\tJaye P. Morgan, the husky-voiced, hit-making singer of the 1950s whose bad behavior on The Gong Show<\/em> made her a fan favorite before she went a bit too far, has died. She was 94.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\n\tMorgan lived in Castle Rock, Washington, and died Monday, her family announced.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn 1955, she found success with \u201cThat\u2019s All I Want From You\u201d (it made it to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100), \u201cThe Longest Walk\u201d (No. 6), \u201cDanger! Heartbreak Ahead,\u201d \u201cIf You Don\u2019t Want My Love\u201d and \u201cPepper-Hot Baby.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShe also served as a vocalist on the ABC quiz show\u00a0Stop the Music\u00a0<\/em>in 1954-55; toplined her own twice-weekly NBC variety program in 1956 in which she performed with brothers Duke, Bob, Charlie and Dick; and was a regular on Robert Q. Lewis\u2019 CBS daytime show.<\/p>\n

\n\tMorgan appeared often on\u00a0The Tonight Show\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 she said she was Johnny Carson\u2018s guest about 150 times in New York and L.A. \u2014 and it was on the late-night show that she honed her naughty reputation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cJohnny is very raunchy,\u201d she told\u00a0The New York Times\u00a0<\/em>in 1981. \u201cWe used to send each other the filthiest telegrams and get them delivered because we cast them in unusual words. It was fun to put anything over on any network. You have to make them worry constantly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn one notable segment, she ripped the host for giving his cigarette more attention than she was getting.<\/p>\n

\n\tMorgan also made an impression on\u00a0The Gong Show<\/em>, the zany NBC game show hosted and created by Chuck Barris that aired on NBC and in syndication in daytime and primetime from 1976-80. The program gave amateurs a chance to display their so-called talent in front of three celebrity judges.<\/p>\n

\n\tOne act featured two young women sitting on the stage and licking orange Popsicles (yes, that was the whole act). Phyllis Diller gave them a zero and Jamie Farr gave them a 2, but Morgan gave them the highest score possible, a 10. \u201cDon\u2019t you know that\u2019s the way I started?\u201d she said with a smile.<\/p>\n

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\n\tMorgan, who was very fond of double entendres, was eventually fired from\u00a0The Gong Show\u00a0<\/em>after she took off her jacket and tie, unbuttoned her blouse and bared her breasts during a Mean Gene Dancing Machine routine. Many say the show was never the same after she was banished.<\/p>\n

\n\tShe was born Mary Margaret Morgan on Dec. 3, 1931, in a log cabin in Mancos, Colorado. At age 3, she took to the road in a vaudeville act with her father, mother, five brothers and a sister, and The Morgan Family appeared in the 1935 Pat O\u2019Brien movie musical\u00a0Stars Over Broadway<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThey all moved to California, and while serving as class treasurer as a junior at Verdugo Hills High School outside Los Angeles, she was nicknamed \u201cJaye P.\u201d after the banker J.P. (John Pierpoint) Morgan.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen I left school at 17 and began working with [orchestra leader] Frank DeVol, he liked [the name], so it stuck,\u201d she said in a 1992 interview with the\u00a0Los Angeles Times<\/em>. They recorded her first hit, a version of \u201cLife Is Just a Bowl of Cherries,\u201d in 1951.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter marrying pianist-composer Artie Kane and leaving show business, she returned in the 1960s as an actress and appeared on\u00a0General Electric Theater<\/em>;\u00a0The Danny Thomas Show<\/em>;\u00a0My Three Sons<\/em>;\u00a0Love, American Style<\/em>;\u00a0The Odd Couple;\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0The Muppet Show <\/em>and in the movies\u00a0Coming Attractions <\/em>(1978), Night Patrol <\/em>(1984) and\u00a0Home Alone 2: Lost in New York\u00a0<\/em>(1992).<\/p>\n

\n\tShe sang the theme songs to\u00a0John Goldfarb, Please Come Home\u00a0<\/em>(1965), starring Shirley MacLaine, and the 1975 NBC sitcom\u00a0Fay<\/em>, starring Lee Grant. She also recorded a 1976 pop-R&B album produced by a young David Foster and performed in nightclubs.<\/p>\n

\n\tHer association with Barris continued with appearances on the game shows\u00a0The Chuck Barris Rah Rah Show\u00a0<\/em>and The $1.98 Beauty Show,\u00a0<\/em>in\u00a0The Gong Show Movie\u00a0<\/em>(1980) and in the biopic\u00a0Confessions of a Dangerous Mind\u00a0<\/em>(2002), directed by George Clooney.<\/p>\n

Read more Dolly Parton\u2019s Cause of Death Revealed<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tSurvivors include her son, Paul.<\/p>\n

\nRhett Bartlett contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jaye P. Morgan, the husky-voiced, hit-making singer of the 1950s who found fame as a judge on The Gong Show, has died. She was 94.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[699,39],"class_list":["post-5984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-johnny-carson","tag-obituaries"],"yoast_head":"\nJaye P. Morgan, Singer and Bawdy \u2018Gong Show\u2019 Panelist, Dies at 94 - US Property Moves<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5984\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jaye P. 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