Jaye P. Morgan Dies: Singer And Risqué ‘Gong Show’ Judge Was 94

Jaye P. Morgan, the singer, actor, nightclub star and, perhaps most famously to fans of ’70s game shows, the outrageously risqué panelist on Chuck Barris’ The Gong Show, died Monday, August 24, her family announced. She was 94. The announcement did not include a cause or place of death. Morgan was a resident of Castle Rock, Washington. Born Mary Margaret Morgan on December 3, 1931, in Mancos, Colorado, Morgan took the name Jaye P. Morgan after high school classmates provided the nickname after banking mogul J.P. Morgan. She began appearing on the vaudeville stage in a family act that was featured in the 1935 film Stars Over Broadway. As a teenager, Morgan performed frequently in Los Angeles with the Western Swing musician Hank Penny, according to her official website. After graduating high school, she joined the Frank DeVol Orchestra as its lead female vocalist from 1950-53. Two years after leaving the group, she scored her own hit singles with “That’s All I Want from You,” “The Longest Walk,” “Danger! Heartbreak Ahead,” “If You Don’t Want My Love” and “Pepper-Hot Baby.” She was introduced to television audiences in 1955 as a regular on CBS’ daytime variety program The Robert Q. Lewis Show. Soon she was appearing on nightclub stages and such primetime variety series as The Ed Sullivan Show, The Perry Como Show, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Steve Allen Show and The Dinah Shore Show, among numerous others. Morgan enjoyed a resurgence in popularity during the 1970s through her frequent witty and candid appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Mike Douglas Show, The Merv Griffin Show and Dinah! She guested in episodes of The Odd Couple, The Muppet Show, Lucas Tanner, The Love Boat and others. She sang the theme song of the 1975 NBC sitcom Fay starring Lee Grant. But perhaps her signature credit was as one of the celebrity judges on Barris’ zany syndicated program The Gong Show from 1976-78, in which contestants performed their wacky and often awful talents (or non-talents). Like her Match Game counterpart Brett Somers, Morgan became known for brash and brazen double entendres. Morgan proved so popular on the show that Barris cast her on his other programs including The Chuck Barris Rah Rah Show and The $1.98 Beauty Show and in 1980’s The Gong Show Movie (which included footage of an infamous breast-baring moment from the TV show). She later would portray herself in George Clooney’s imaginative 2002 Barris biopic Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. She is survived by son Paul.