Jaye P. Morgan, a singing star of the ’50s who’s best remembered for flashing her breasts on an episode of “The Gong Show,” died Monday at age 94. Unlike Dolly Parton and Shelley Fabares, she never had a No. 1 hit on the Billboard chart. The best she managed was No. 3.
Morgan was born into a vaudeville family; she was on stage at age 3. The act broke up when her father died in 1945, but with a few years she was singing in nightclubs.. After RCA signed her in 1953 a string of hits followed, led by “That’s All I Want From You” the next year.
She had five more top 20 hits in 1955, two of them duets with Perry Como. “Two Lost Souls,” a tune from the musical “Damn Yankees,” made it to No. 18.
The fast-growing new medium of television took notice. TV in the mid-’50s was still taking its programming cues from radio, so there were lots variety shows that employed singers. Morgan landed a gig on one hosted by Robert Q. Lewis, then got her own show in 1956. Her four singing brothers were featured performers.
With the rise of rock and roll her days on the charts ended, but her bawdy wit made her a frequent TV talk show guest – she was a Johnny Carson regular for several years – and game show judge. It was the loosest, shaggiest game show ever created that gave her notoriety.
“The Gong Show” was a spoof of TV talent shows cooked up and hosted by Chuck Barris, who had produced the hit shows “The Dating Game” and “The Newlywed Game.” Amateur acts, many painfully inept, performed until one of the judges hit a gong to end the torture. Recurring guests like the Unknown Comic, a standup who wore a paper bag over his head and told terrible borsht-belt jokes, became fan favorites.
The most popular was stagehand Eugene Patton, who as Gene Gene the Dancing Machine broke into his signature shuffle as the band played Count Basie’s “One O’Clock Jump” while people threw clothing at him. It was even more absurd than it sounds (you can look up episodes on YouTube for reference). During a particularly raucous segment, Barris removed his jacket and threw it at the stage, prompting Morgan to unbutton her blouse – to reveal, for a split-second, that she was wearing nothing underneath. NBC promptly banned her from the program.
That didn’t end her career, but it put a big dent in it. She landed occasional acting roles after that, including a small role in “Home Alone 2,” but she clearly peaked the year of her banishment. The proof? That was the same year she made a memorable episode of “The Muppet Show” that had her singing one number in a pink feathered bird costume, then sharing a duet with Dr. Teeth.
Morgan’s last screen appearance came in 2002 when she played herself in the Chuck Barris biopic, “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,” based on his memoir, in which he claimed to have been a CIA hit man.
