‘Gong Show’ panelist Jaye P. Morgan dies at 94

Jaye P. Morgan, a singer, actress and frequent game show panelist in the 1970s, died Monday in Washington.

Her family announced her death and said she resided in Castle Rock, Washington.

Morgan’s singing career took off in 1953 with “Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries,” closely followed by her biggest hit “That’s All I Want from You.” Other notable titles include “The Longest Walk” and “Pepper Hot Baby.”

Along with her singles, Morgan was a vocalist on the ABC television series show “Stop the Music.”

In 1956, she had her own show, “The Jaye P. Morgan Show,” and made guest appearances on a number of other variety shows including “The Jackie Gleason Show” and “The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.”

Morgan pivoted to acting in the 1960s. She was cast as Sally Dwight in the episode “Money and the Minister” of the CBS anthology series “General Electric Theater,” hosted by Ronald Reagan, followed by playing Patty Maxwell in “Patti’s Tune” of the CBS military sitcom-drama “Hennessy” and Ruth Evans in the episode “Sunday Father” of the NBC medical drama “The Eleventh Hour.”

In the ‘70s, Morgan was a regular panelist on “The Gong Show.” On one memorable episode, she flashed her breasts while on live camera during a “Gene, Gene, the Dancing Machine” performance and NBC banned her from the program.

Morgan appeared often on “The Tonight Show” — she said she was Johnny Carson‘s guest about 150 times in New York and L.A. — where she earned her late-night notoriety. She guest-starred on “The Muppet Show” in 1978 later had small roles in “Night Patrol” and “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.”

“Johnny is very raunchy,” she told The New York Times in 1981. “We 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.”

Born Mary Margaret Morgan on Dec. 3, 1931, in a log cabin in Mancos, Colorado, her family moved to Los Angeles, and she was nicknamed “Jaye P.” after the banker J.P. (John Pierpoint) Morgan. She married pianist-composer Artie Kane. She is survived by her son Paul.

-Variety