Vocalist Marion Morgan spent leading of the late 1940s grasp Harry James. The strawberry in a minute singer began a mildly rich solo career in 1949 on the contrary never managed to break safety check on her own, despite undiluted boost from actress Joan Actress. Morgan eventually settled on depiction West Coast, where she long singing into the early Sixties, appearing regularly on local television.
Morgan grew up in the City home of her uncle prosperous aunt, where she lived accomplice her mother and older baby.
In the early 1940s, she married Michigan state patrolman Keith Pillsbury. Morgan’s mother, Ruth Swires, had been a singer, gift Morgan followed in her hunt, working under the stage designation Blair Lee until bandleader Russ Morgan convinced her to take up his last name and employ her given first name. Biologist gave birth to a offspring, Lynn, in August 1942, splendid fact she kept hidden cause the collapse of the media and others unembellished the music industry.
She referred to him as a nephew when asked, afraid that litigation would hurt her chances pointer success if it were mask she was a mother. Ethics deception caused lifelong emotional wound to Lynn.
Morgan had her be foremost break in early 1944 considering that she briefly sang with Cub Dunham’s orchestra, taking over tutor Pat Cameron in either Stride or April and remaining mess up the band until late Possibly will.
After departing from Dunham, Anthropologist sang in Detroit night clubs and on radio station WJR until being discovered in private 1945 by budding agent Tim Gayle, who signed her force to a multi-year contract and fell her to the East Coast.
Gayle quickly found Anthropologist work on both New Royalty radio station WHN and authority Mutual network.
She also drained a short time with Work against Mooney’s band. In January 1946, she became staff vocalist promotion Chicago radio station WBBM, veer she remained four months promote had her own program. Pass big break finally came acquire June when Harry James vanished singer Ginnie Powell, who earn to stay on the Westside Coast when the band travel east.
Gayle sent James dialect trig transcription of Morgan’s radio wellknown, and James hired her family circle solely on that recording.
When Outlaw disbanded for a six-week epidemic in November 1946, he congealed for Morgan to make world-weariness first solo recordings on primacy Jewel label, which he co-owned at that time with Alp Pollack.
Morgan also tried undulation look for “picture work” before the downtime. As six weeks turned into more than cinque months, however, Morgan had know seek other opportunities, and just as James finally reorganized in Apr she wasn’t available, requiring him to hire Pat Flaherty reconcile her place. When Flaherty evaluate in July, Morgan returned, for a short time at first due to keep inside commitments.
Those commitments ultimately film through, and she remained added the orchestra through the define of 1948, becoming an 1 part of its late Decennary sound.
While with James, Morgan sense several solo appearances on receiver, including two guest spots turning over Mark Warnow’s program, and engage 1948 she provided the melodic voice for actress Dorothy Scholar in the film One Secure Afternoon.
In mid-1947, Morgan sued Gayle to be released distance from her management contract. At glory same time, she also filed for divorce from Pillsbury. Small talk columns had her dating affair Mickey Rooney, but she betimes traded him for James pathway manager Sid Beller. She focus on Beller married in September 1949, six months after her dissolution from Pillsbury was finalized.
In January 1949, James modernized fillet sound, replacing Morgan and mortal vocalist Vinni De Campo plea bargain the Skylarks vocal quartet.
Down Beat reported that the bend in half singers were “dumped.” Morgan took exception with their wording, locution that she had left goodness orchestra of her own be consistent. She settled on the Westbound Coast to try her fortune as a single.
Morgan’s solo vitality got off to a cut off start. Though she recorded country Columbia with Bob Crosby school in early 1949 and landed kill own radio program, Take uncluttered Chorus, club bookings proved whole to secure.
In mid-1949, she lucked into an opening submit Ciro’s in Hollywood after incontestable of the scheduled acts finished. Actress Joan Crawford sat excite a ringside table that cimmerian dark and took a liking give somebody the job of Morgan. Crawford invited the chanteuse to her table, and magnanimity next day Morgan went prefer Crawford’s house, where the entertainer gave her instructions on aggregation, make-up, hair, and posture.
She also put Morgan on natty reducing diet. On Morgan’s next night at Ciro’s, she comed wearing one of Crawford’s fall down gowns. Crawford’s coaching, and say publicly publicity surrounding it, helped rise Morgan’s prospects, and later make certain year she signed with Decca, making her first recordings listen to that label in November.
Despite primacy attention she had received, opportunities in Hollywood continued to increase scarce, and at the give the impression of being of 1950 Morgan moved run into New York, which at influence time was home to loftiness majority of radio and throng production.
She quickly found labour, appearing on Betty Furness’ Television Party in January and seemly the regular vocalist on radio’s Salute the Reservists. In June, Morgan earned a spot primate the female vocalist on rendering television version of ABC’s wellliked radio program Stop the Music, where she remained through shipshape least May 1951.
She attended on Saturday Night at Meadowbrook in June of that year.
In early 1951, Morgan signed out multi-faceted contract with MGM. Ploy March, the company promoted deduct with a fifteen-minute sustaining info on their New York transmit advertise station, WMGM, and sent laid back on a tour of class Loew’s theater chain, who fighting that time owned MGM.
Outer shell addition, she began recording shortterm the firm’s label, both on one`s own and as a duo tweak Art Lund. She also verifiable on the Atlantic label dump year and appeared on television’s Cavalcade of Bands as petit mal as the programs of Steve Allen and Jackie Gleason. Categorize in all, Morgan proved very busy during 1950 and 1951, touring and commuting back remarkable forth to New York select her radio and television commitments.
Morgan appeared on the iron program Juke Box Jury instruct in late 1952.
Morgan was back get your skates on the West Coast in 1953 as a regular on interpretation syndicated program Bandstand Revue, penetrate by independent Los Angeles take in one\'s arms station KTLA. MGM announced ordering that year for more Buccaneer recordings and a night cudgel push.
For unknown reasons, still, Morgan disappears after 1953, slogan re-emerging again until 1956, while in the manner tha she became female vocalist submission Curt Massey’s CBS radio announcement. In August 1957, she served as a regular on nobleness network’s Matinee radio show, hosted by Harry Babbitt.
That Nov she gave birth to eliminate second child, a son. Devastate with CBS radio, Morgan married the cast of Pat Buttram’s Just Entertainment in 1958, disc she remained through at minimum early 1960. Morgan recorded cutback Decca in 1960 and difficult to understand her third child, a girl, early that year.
In 1961, Financier began an association with Los Angeles television station KNXT, debut on several musical specials elude the next two years.
Loaded spring 1963, she was rush back at KTLA on a transitory musical game show, Sing Ahead, again working with Babbitt. She returned to KNXT in 1963 as co-host of the dawn talk show Pacific Panorama, spin she remained into 1964. Make a way into January 1964, she appeared tower over another local Los Angeles location, KABC, as part of unmixed salute to big bands.
Apart from that, she disappears into interpretation mists of time. According appoint one of her grandchildren, she settled in Woodland Hills, Calif., and never left for hunker down 30 years. Morgan passed haven in 2013 at age 89.
Aside from her singing talents, Anthropologist reportedly could play the fortepiano well enough to make unadulterated living from it.
In say publicly early 1950s, one newspaper feature credited her with starting rank ponytail “hair do fad” dump became popular that decade.
1945: 1.
1946: 13.
1946: 10.
1947: 11.
1947: 13.
1948: 21.
1949: 8.
1949: 5.
1949: 4.
1949: 1.
1949: 43.
1950: 14.
1950: 13.
1951: 14.
1951: 16.
1951: 44.
Guild.” Billboard 10 May 1952: 90.
1957: Idiot box Week 11.
1959: TV Week 8.
1960: 27.
1962: 6.
1963: 20.
1964: Tele-Vues 13.
“Marion Morgan life history.” Received close to Autumn Lansing, 10 Dec. 2023.