Mary Margaret Morgan (December 3, 1931 – August 24, 2026), known professionally as Jaye P. Morgan, was an American singer, actress and game show panelist.
Early life Mary Margaret Morgan was born in Mancos, Montezuma County, in far southwestern Colorado on December 3, 1931. See also: Her family moved to California by the time she was in high school. Morgan had six siblings; five brothers and one sister. In the late 1940s, at Verdugo Hills High School in the Tujunga neighborhood of Los Angeles, she served as class treasurer (and got the nickname Jaye P. after the banker J. P. Morgan) and sang at school assemblies, accompanied by her brother on guitar.
Career
In 1953, Morgan made a recording of "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries" issued by Derby Records, which made it to #26 on the U.S. Billboard record chart. Soon after, she received an RCA Victor recording contract, and she had five hits in one year, including her biggest hit "That's All I Want from You", which reached #3 on the chart. Her other notable hits included "There's a Dream in My Heart" by Rolande Maxwell Young, "The Longest Walk", and "Pepper Hot Baby". After spending six years with RCA Victor, Morgan joined MGM Records in 1959.
From 1954 to 1955, Morgan was a vocalist on the ABC television series show Stop the Music. In November 1955, the British music magazine, NME, reported that Morgan was the top female vocalist in the U.S. Cash Box poll. Beginning January 11, 1954, she was a featured singer on the Robert Q. Lewis Show on CBS-TV.
In 1956, she had her own show, The Jaye P. Morgan Show, and made guest appearances on a number of other variety shows. She was a charter member of the Robert Q. Lewis "gang" on Lewis's weekday program on CBS, and was featured on a special episode of The Jackie Gleason Show in which Lewis's entire company substituted for the vacationing Gleason. In 1958, Morgan appeared on ABC's Pat Boone Chevy Showroom. On October 6, 1960, she guest starred on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.
In 1961, Morgan was cast as Sally Dwight in the episode "Money and the Minister" of the CBS anthology series, General Electric Theater, hosted by Ronald Reagan. In 1962, she played Patty Maxwell in "Patti's Tune" of the CBS military sitcom-drama Hennesey, starring Jackie Cooper. That same year, she was cast as Kitty Flanders in "That's Showbiz" on NBC's The Joey Bishop Show. In 1964, she portrayed the character Ruth Evans in the episode "Sunday Father" of the NBC medical drama The Eleventh Hour.
Although Morgan continued to spend considerable time in the 1960s and 1970s performing in nightclubs, she also continued to make additional appearances on television as well as in films. In 1964, she guest-starred on CBS's My Three Sons as Susan Duvall in the episode "Second Chorus" and in 1966 "A Falling Star", playing the fading singer Claudia Farrell. Later, in 1973, Morgan played herself in the episode "The Songwriter" of the sitcom The Odd Couple. That year she also appeared as Magda Valentine in the film The All-American Boy. She performed the theme song, "Coming into My Own", of the short-lived NBC situation comedy Fay, starring Lee Grant, which aired from 1975 to 1976.McNeil, Alex, Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present, New York: Penguin Books, 1996, p. 281.
In 1978, Morgan guest-starred on The Muppet Show and sang "That Old Black Magic" as a duet with Dr. Teeth. Morgan made numerous appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson during this period,* 24 November 1972, NBC's "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" with Tony Randall, David Brenner, Popov the Clown, Jaye P. Morgan, Mark Stone. https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pictured-musical-guest-jaye-p-morgan-performs-on-november-news-photo/452196676 https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pictured-musical-guest-jaye-p-morgan-during-an-interview-news-photo/452196656 https://pantagraph.com/johnny-carson-vault-series-is-an-interesting-look-at-life-in-the-1970s/article_a4683511-5269-5557-a331-34585c30a94a.html https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pictured-singer-jaye-p-morgan-performing-on-february-9th-news-photo/649651922 and in the 1980s and into the early 1990s she performed again in movies, working in supportive roles in films such as Loose Shoes (1980), Night Patrol (1984), and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992).
Game show panelist One of Morgan's first appearances as a game show panelist was on the 1970 pilot for "The Honeymoon Game" (a re-working of earlier pilots for The Joker's Wild). She represented the category of Music on the show, asking questions of the contestants in that category.
From 1976 to 1978, Morgan was a regular panelist on The Gong Show, in which she achieved notoriety for flashing her breasts while on live camera during a Gene, Gene, the Dancing Machine performance. NBC banned her from the program for the flashing incident.
Morgan appeared as herself in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, a 2003 semi-biographical film about the life of Chuck Barris, creator of The Gong Show, The Dating Game, and The Newlywed Game.
Personal life and death Morgan was married three times. She was married briefly to Michael Baiano from 1954 to 1955; then to Chuck Kelly, and lastly to Artie Kane, a musician. She had one son, who died in 2020. Morgan died from injuries sustained in a fall at a hospital in Longview, Washington, on August 24, 2026, at the age of 94.
Discography
Albums
Year Title Label and Number 1953 Jaye P. Morgan and Orchestra (10") Royale 18122 1954 Jaye P. Morgan and Orchestra (10") Royale 18147 1954 Jaye P. Morgan and Orchestra (10") Royale 18162 1955 Jaye P. Morgan Sings with Frank DeVol's Orchestra Allegro Royale 1604 1956 Jaye P. Morgan RCA Victor LPM-1155 1958 Just You, Just Me RCA Victor LSP-1682 1959 Slow & Easy MGM E3774 1960 Up North MGM E3830 1960 Down South MGM E3867 1961 That Country Sound MGM E3940 1962 Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries Tops Mayfair 9739 1970 What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life Beverly Hills BHS-24 1976 Jaye P. Morgan Candor C-1001 1983 Lately! Palace PLP-S6540 1995 Jaye P. Morgan & Kaye Ballard – Long Time Friends AVL-95320
Singles
YearSingle (A-side, B-side)Both sides from same album except where indicatedChart positionsAlbumU.S.USCashboxU.S.AC 1953 "Just a Gigolo"b/w "Wasted Tears" 22Jaye P. Morgan (Rondo-Lette label)1954 "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries"b/w "Operator 299" 26 45 "Ring Telephone Ring"b/w "Don't Tell Him" "Nobody Met the Train"b/w "Life Was Made for Living" "I Ain't Got the Man"b/w "Baby Don't Do It" "That's All I Want from You"b/w "Dawn" 3 6Non-album tracks 1955 "Danger! Heartbreak Ahead" / 12 14 "Softly Softly" flip 42 "Have You Ever Been Lonely?"b/w "Life Was Made for Living" The House Of Jaye P. Morgan "Chee Chee-oo Chee" (with Perry Como) / 12 17Non-album tracks "Two Lost Souls" (with Perry Como) 18 26 "The Longest Walk" / 6 12 "Swanee" flip 48 "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries"b/w "Just a Gigolo" The House of Jaye P. Morgan "Baby Don't Do It"b/w "Nobody Met the Train" "If You Don't Want My Love" / 12 33Non-album tracks "Pepper Hot Baby" 14 19 "Not One Goodbye" / 48 "My Bewildered Heart" 47 1956 "Get Up! Get Up!" / 83 "Sweet Lips" 85 "Lost in the Shuffle" / 69 "Play for Keeps" 79 "Johnny Casanova"b/w "The West Point Dress Parade" 81 "Just Love Me"b/w "The Call of the Wild" 97 "Mutual Admiration Society"b/w "If'n"Both sides with Eddy Arnold 47 241957"I Thought It Was Over"b/w "Pledge Allegiance to Your Heart" "Graduation Ring"b/w "You, You Romeo" "There's a Dream in My Heart"b/w "Take a Chance" 1958"Tell Me More"b/w "My Blind Date" "I Know, I Know, I Know"b/w "I Love You So Much It Hurts"Both sides with The Morgan Brothers "Star Dust" (with The Morgan Brothers)b/w "Easy Does It" 1959 "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" / 65 67 "Miss You" 78 63 "(It Took) One Kiss"b/w "My Reputation" 70 "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place"b/w "Somebody Loses, Somebody Wins" "That Funny Feeling"b/w "Left My Gal in the Mountains" 112 "My Darling, My Darling"b/w "Thoughts of Love" 1960 "Half as Much"b/w "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" That Country Sound "I Wish I Didn't Love You So"b/w "I Understand" Non-album tracks "I Walk the Line"b/w "Wondering Where You Are" (Non-album track) 66 55That Country Sound "When You Get What You Want"b/w "A World I Can't Live In" 1961 "Catch Me a Kiss"b/w "Close Your Eyes" Non-album tracks 1962 "A Heartache Named Johnny"b/w "He Thinks I Still Care" 119 1965 "Put a Ring on My Finger"b/w "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries" 1970 "Love of a Gentle Man"b/w "Billy Sunshine" 37What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life"b/w "Applause" 40 "I've Got an Awful Lot of Losing You to Do"b/w "He's Too Good For Me" 1971 "A Song for You"b/w "Do You Really Have a Heart" (from What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life) 105 108Non-album track
References
External links