Jaye P. Morgan, Singer and Bawdy ‘Gong Show’ Panelist, Dies at 94

Jaye P. Morgan, the husky-voiced, hit-making singer of the 1950s whose bad behavior on The Gong Show made her a fan favorite before she went a bit too far, has died. She was 94.

Morgan lived in Castle Rock, Washington, and died Monday, her family announced .

In 1955, she found success with “That’s All I Want From You” (it made it to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100), “The Longest Walk” (No. 6), “Danger! Heartbreak Ahead,” “If You Don’t Want My Love” and “Pepper-Hot Baby.” Related Stories Critic’s Appreciation Dolly Parton, a Hollywood Treasure Who Lit Up the Screen With Her Authentic Self Music Dolly Parton Tributes Pour in From Taylor Swift, Billy Ray Cyrus, Jane Fonda, Reba McEntire, Kacey Musgraves and More

She also served as a vocalist on the ABC quiz show Stop the Music in 1954-55; toplined her own twice-weekly NBC variety program in 1956 in which she performed with brothers Duke, Bob, Charlie and Dick; and was a regular on Robert Q. Lewis’ CBS daytime show.

Morgan appeared often on The Tonight Show — she said she was Johnny Carson ‘s guest about 150 times in New York and L.A. — and it was on the late-night show that she honed her naughty reputation.

In one notable segment, she ripped the host for giving his cigarette more attention than she was getting.

Morgan also made an impression on The Gong Show , the zany NBC game show hosted and created by Chuck Barris that aired on NBC and in syndication in daytime and primetime from 1976-80. The program gave amateurs a chance to display their so-called talent in front of three celebrity judges.

One act featured two young women sitting on the stage and licking orange Popsicles (yes, that was the whole act). Phyllis Diller gave them a zero and Jamie Farr gave them a 2, but Morgan gave them the highest score possible, a 10. “Don’t you know that’s the way I started?” she said with a smile.

Morgan, who was very fond of double entendres, was eventually fired from The Gong Show after she took off her jacket and tie, unbuttoned her blouse and bared her breasts during a Mean Gene Dancing Machine routine. Many say the show was never the same after she was banished.

She was born Mary Margaret Morgan on Dec. 3, 1931, in a log cabin in Mancos, Colorado. At age 3, she took to the road in a vaudeville act with her father, mother, five brothers and a sister, and The Morgan Family appeared in the 1935 Pat O’Brien movie musical Stars Over Broadway .

They all moved to California, and while serving as class treasurer as a junior at Verdugo Hills High School outside Los Angeles, she was nicknamed “Jaye P.” after the banker J.P. (John Pierpoint) Morgan.

“When I left school at 17 and began working with [orchestra leader] Frank DeVol, he liked [the name], so it stuck,” she said in a 1992 interview with the Los Angeles Times .