|
|
Jaye P. Morgan |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sometimes, the things you do in high school really
do set the stage for the rest of your life. That is certainly the case with
singer and entertainer Jaye P. Morgan, who not only
telegraphed her future but also found her name at Remembered
fondly by her classmates, Jaye P. was known by her
given name of Mary Morgan when she would sing at school assemblies in the
late 1940's accompanied on the guitar by her brother Duke. "She
always livened [up] the school assemblies when she performed," recalls a
friend from that era. It
was also during that time when she earned the nickname the world would come
to know her by. According to her classmates, Ms. Morgan was the class
treasurer in 1947 and, as a result, began to be called "J.P." in
reference to legendary financier John Pierpoint
Morgan. The nickname stuck and Jaye P. clearly made
the most of it. About
a year after attending Verdugo, Jaye
P. had recorded the first of a long string of hit songs. The song that
propelled her to stardom was her 1951 hit single "Life Is Just A Bowl of
Cherries," which made it into the Top Ten for several weeks. And
the hits kept on coming. By 1955, Jaye P. had five
hit singles in one year including "That's All I Want From You" (to
#5 on the charts), "The Longest Walk" (to #6),"Danger!
Heartbreak Ahead" (to #12), "If You Don't Want My Love" (to
#12), and "Pepper-Hot Baby" (to #14). She
went on to record many more popular songs during that decade including
"Softly, Softly," Chee-Chee-Oo-Chee"
with Perry Como, "Two Lost Souls," "My Bewildered Heart,"
"Not One Goodbye," "My Blind Date," and "Graduation
Ring," among many others. Her
success as a recording artist also made her a star on the newly evolving
medium of television where she was a regularly featured performer on Eddie
Fisher's "Coke Time" variety show, the "Perry Como Show,"
the "Robert Q. Lewis Show," the "Ed Sullivan Show," and
the "Tonight Show." In
1956, Jaye P. even had her own television show
appropriately entitled "The Jaye P. Morgan
Show." Her show was a summer replacement for "Coke Time," and Jaye P. was assisted in her performances by brothers
Duke, Bob, Charlie, and Dick. During
the 1960's, Jaye P. added acting to her repertoire
with notable guest appearances on the very popular show "My Three
Sons," the Fred MacMurray sitcom that still
has the distinction of being the second-longest running network sitcom after
"Ozzie and Harriet." She sang the theme song to the controversial
1965 film John Goldfarb, Please Come Home, which starred Richard Crenna, Shirley Maclaine, Peter
Ustinov and Jim Backus. And she donated her talents to Jerry Lewis' Muscular
Dystrophy Telethons. By
the the 1970's, Jaye P.
had reinvented herself as a much sought-after game show panelist. Jaye P. appeared on such shows as Tom Kennedy's "You
Don't Say," "Break the Bank," " Jaye P. appeared on the popular comedy
series "The Odd Couple" and was the featured guest on an episode of
"The Muppet Show." She also recorded the theme song to the 1975 NBC
sitcom "Fay," starring Lee Grant. In
the 1980's, Jaye P. appeared in several feature
films including "The Gong Show Movie," "Loose Shoes," and
"Night Patrol." She also went on tour with the Broadway stage
production of "Sugar Babies," with Eddie Bracken. In 1992, Jaye P. was featured in the film Home Alone 2: Lost in
New York. And
in 1998, at a time when most of her classmates were in retirement, Jaye P. returned to her days in high school with a tour
of the stage production "Swing, Swing, Swing!"
Also featuring Tommy Sands and his orchestra, the production was a
celebration of the big band sounds and songs of the 1940's that were
undoubtedly Jaye P.'s inspiration to become a
singer. It
is very fitting that, at the time of her "Swing, Swing, Swing!"
tour, the big band sound and swing dancing had, once again, become very
popular with the students at Verdugo Hills High
School who were resurrecting the music and the moves of a former era at
school dances and talent shows on the eve of a new millennium. We're sure
that Ms. Morgan would heartily approve! |
|
AT
VERDUGO HIGH:
Films: Home Alone 2: Lost
in Night Patrol (1984) as Kate The Gong Show
Movie (1980)
as Herself Loose Shoes (1980) aka
"Coming Attractions" as the Stop-It Nurse The All-American
Boy (1973) as
Magda Adventures of Nick Carter (1972) as the Plush Horse Singer Television: "Coke Time"
(1955) "The Perry Como
Show" (1955) "The Jaye P. Morgan Show" (1956) "Holiday On
Ice" (1956) revue with Sonja Henie "The Robert Q.
Lewis Show" (1950's) "The Ed Sullivan
Show" (1958) "Stop the
Music" (1950's) "Perry
Presents" (1959) "Accent On
Love" (1959) musical revue with Ginger Rogers and Louis Jourdan "My Three
Sons" (1964) playing a nightclub singer in the episode entitled
"Second Chorus" "My Three Sons"
(1966) playing "Claudia Farrell" in the episode entitled "A
Falling Star" "You Don't
Say" (1969) gameshow panelist "Mantrap"
(1971) a regular on the gameshow rework of te 1950's "Leave It To The Girls" "The Odd
Couple" (1973) as herself in the episode entitled "The
Songwriters" "The Gong
Show" (1976-80) gameshow regular "The Muppet
Show" (1977) as Herself "The $1.98
Beauty Show" (1978) gameshow panelist |
