Jane Morgan, the acclaimed singer known for her hit recording “Fascination” and frequent television appearances, died Monday at age 101 in Naples, Florida. Morgan passed away peacefully in her sleep of natural causes while in hospice care, according to family announcements.
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 Maine before graduating from Seabreeze High School in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Morgan studied opera at Juilliard in New York, performing in nightclubs to help pay tuition. Her stage name was created by Roseland Ballroom orchestra leader Art Mooney. Her career took a pivotal turn 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 at Hilda’s Club Des Champs Elysees, performing classics by Cole Porter and George Gershwin while wearing gowns and hats created by renowned designers including Oleg Cassini and Donald Brooks. She and Hilda even hosted their own television program during her four-year European stay.
After returning to the United States, Morgan signed with Dave Kapp’s Kapp Records and released her first two stateside albums in 1956: “The American Girl From Paris” and “Two Different Worlds.” Her breakthrough came in 1957 when she teamed with The Troubadors to record “Fascination,” a version of the 1905 French song featured in Billy Wilder’s film “Love in the Afternoon,” starring Audrey Hepburn and Gary Cooper.
The recording peaked at number seven on the Billboard pop chart and sold millions of copies worldwide. She followed this success with another Top 40 hit in 1958, “The Day the Rains Came,” recorded in both English and French, which reached number one on the UK chart in 1959.
Morgan became a television mainstay, appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show an estimated 50 times, which sources suggest may be a record for female singers. She was also 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 between 1959 and 1968.
Her Broadway career included starring in “Mame” in 1968, following Angela Lansbury and Janis Paige in the title role of the original production. Morgan indicated that performing 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.”
At the Academy Awards, Morgan performed “The Second Time Around” from “High Time” in 1961, then returned in 1966 with Michel Legrand to perform “I Will Wait for You” from “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.” In 1970, she recorded “A Girl Named Johnny Cash,” a parody of Cash’s “A Boy Named Sue” written by Martin Mull, which spent five weeks on Billboard’s Country chart.
Throughout her career, Morgan recorded approximately 40 albums and sang in five languages, making her an international star. She performed for President Charles de Gaulle of France and for U.S. Presidents John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George H.W. Bush, serving as a member of the Committee on the Arts and Humanities for the latter.
In the early 1960s, Morgan began working with manager Jerry Weintraub, who later became a prominent concert promoter and Hollywood producer working with Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, John Denver, and Led Zeppelin. Morgan married Weintraub in 1965, becoming stepmother to his son Michael. The couple adopted three daughters: Julie, Jamie, and Jody.
In 1973, Morgan retired from regular performing to focus on family life with Weintraub. Although they later separated, they never divorced, and Weintraub died in 2015. Morgan 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 is survived by stepson Michael, adopted daughters Jamie and Jody, six grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by adopted daughter Julie. The family has requested that donations in her memory be made to the Weintraub Center for Reconstructive Biotechnology at UCLA.
