I wasn't even aware of her singing career in the 1950s but she was
apparently quite successful.


Jaye P. Morgan, one of the top female recording artists of the 1950s
with seven top 40 pop hits in 1954-55 alone, including "That's All I
Want From You," and who later became a frequent talk show guest and
game show panelist -- infamously taking off her blouse on The Gong Show
-- died on Aug. 24 of natural causes in Longview, Wash. She was 94. Her longtime attorney and friend, Mark Sendroff, said Ms. Morgan had been
living with her nephew and niece, Duke Morgan Spencer and Peggy Sue
Spencer.

Morgan's biggest hit was 1954's "That's All I Want From You," which
reached No. 3 on the Most Played by Jockeys chart and No. 5 on the Best Sellers in Stores list. In the Billboard Hot 100 era, she scored three
hits: "Are You Lonesome Tonight" (No. 65 in 1959); "Miss You" (No. 78,
1959); and "I Walk the Line" (No. 66, 1960).

Later, she would become a regular guest on The Tonight Show and make appearances with Merv Griffin, Dick Cavett and Mike Douglas as well as
spots on The Love Boat and Fantasy Island. But it was her years hamming
it up as a celebrity judge -- along with Jamie Farr and Rip Taylor --
on the chaotic The Gong Show starting in 1976 that cemented her fame.
On the show, amateur performers tried out their acts, and when one of
the judges couldn't stand it anymore, they smashed a gong, ending the proceedings. Whichever performer won the day's show received a check
for the random amount of $516.32. On one episode, Eugene Patton -- the
dancing stagehand performing as Gene Gene the Dancing Machine --
started his thing when Morgan opened her shirt to expose her breasts,
helping bring an end to the show's run on NBC in 1978.

"It paid good money, and it was great exposure. I really enjoyed it,"
she told the Los Angeles Times in 1992.

"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
New York Times wrote in 1984. "But 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.

Married and divorced three times, Ms. Morgan is survived by a son, Paul Kane.

- Associated Press, 8/26/26.


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