Legendary singer Jane Morgan, known for her hit recording “Fascination” and numerous television appearances spanning five decades, died Monday at age 101 in Naples, Florida. Morgan was in hospice care and passed away peacefully in her sleep of natural causes, her family announced.
Born Florence Catherine Currier on May 3, 1924, in Newton, Massachusetts, Morgan was the youngest of five children. Her parents, Bertram and Olga, operated a music school and composed music, providing an early foundation for her musical career. At age 11, she performed at the Kennebunkport Playhouse in Kennebunkport, Maine, before graduating from Seabreeze High School in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Morgan initially studied opera at Juilliard in New York, performing in nightclubs to help pay tuition. Her career took a pivotal turn when Roseland Ballroom orchestra leader Art Mooney gave her the stage name she would use throughout her career. However, she left school when French impresario and violinist Bernard Hilda invited her to accompany him to Paris in the late 1940s.
In France, Morgan became proficient in French and quickly emerged as a sensation, performing classics by Cole Porter and George Gershwin at Hilda’s Club Des Champs Elysees. She wore gowns and hats created by renowned designers including Oleg Cassini and Donald Brooks. Morgan and Hilda even hosted their own television program during her European years.
After approximately four years in Europe, Morgan returned to the United States and signed with Dave Kapp’s Kapp Records. In 1956, she released her first two stateside albums, “The American Girl From Paris” and “Two Different Worlds.” Her breakthrough came in 1957 when she recorded “Fascination” with The Troubadors. The song peaked at number seven on the Billboard pop chart and was featured in Billy Wilder’s film “Love in the Afternoon,” starring Audrey Hepburn and Gary Cooper.
Morgan added a second Top 40 hit the following year with “The Day the Rains Came,” recorded in both English and French. The song reached number one on the UK chart in 1959. Throughout her career, she recorded approximately 40 albums and sang in five languages, establishing herself as an international star.
Television became a major platform for Morgan’s career. She appeared dozens of times on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and was a recurring guest on Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show,” Perry Como’s “Kraft Music Hall,” and programs hosted by Jackie Gleason, Jack Benny, Andy Williams, Johnny Cash, Dean Martin, Merv Griffin, and Mike Douglas. She hosted three network television specials in 1959 and 1968.
At the Academy Awards in 1961, Morgan performed “The Second Time Around” from “High Time,” then returned in 1966 with Michel Legrand to perform “I Will Wait for You” from “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.” She also acted on episodes of “Peter Gunn” in 1961 and “It Takes a Thief” in 1970.
Morgan’s stage career included prominent Broadway roles. In 1968, she starred in “Mame,” following Angela Lansbury and Janis Paige in the original production. Morgan indicated that being on Broadway was one of the most exciting experiences of her life because she had always dreamed of it. She also appeared in productions of “Can Can,” “Kiss Me Kate,” “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” “The King and I,” “Bells Are Ringing,” and “Ziegfeld Follies.”
In 1970, Morgan recorded “A Girl Named Johnny Cash,” a parody of Cash’s classic “A Boy Named Sue” written by Martin Mull. The song spent five weeks on Billboard’s Country chart. She performed this song on “The Johnny Cash Show” the following year.
Morgan’s personal life intertwined with her professional career when Jerry Weintraub became her manager in the early 1960s. The famed concert promoter and Hollywood producer, who worked with Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, John Denver, and Led Zeppelin, married Morgan in 1965. In 1973, Morgan retired to focus on caring for the family she shared with Weintraub.
The couple adopted three daughters: Jamie, Jody, and Julie. Morgan also became stepmother to Weintraub’s son Michael from his first marriage. Although Morgan and Weintraub later separated, they never divorced. Weintraub died in 2015.
Morgan maintained strong ties to Maine throughout her life, spending summers at her Kennebunkport home for decades. She purchased her first house, Blueberry Hill in Kennebunkport, in 1958. In 2024, at age 100, she celebrated her birthday with an event at the Ogunquit Playhouse, where she was interviewed by the theater’s executive artistic director.
Recognition for Morgan’s contributions to entertainment continued into her later years. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in May 2011, where she performed “Fascination” during the ceremony. In 2022, more than 30 of her sequined, beaded couture gowns were displayed in New York.
Morgan also performed for numerous world leaders, including President Charles de Gaulle of France and U.S. Presidents John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George H.W. Bush. She served as a member of the Committee on the Arts and Humanities under President Bush.
Morgan is survived by her stepson Michael, adopted daughters Jamie and Jody, six grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her adopted daughter Julie. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Weintraub Center for Reconstructive Biotechnology at UCLA.
