Broadway legend Jane Morgan has died at the age of 101. The singer passed away peacefully in her sleep in hospice care on August 4, her family announced.
Morgan rose to fame in France and the UK in the 1940s and '50s before achieving US success with her 1957 hit 'Fascination', which was featured in the Audrey Hepburn film 'Love in the Afternoon'. She later scored another Top 40 hit with 'The Day the Rains Came', which she performed in both English and French. A Juilliard-trained vocalist, she paid her tuition by performing in New York nightclubs.
She turned her attention to Broadway, starring in productions including 'Mame', 'Kiss Me Kate', 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes', 'The King and I', and 'Ziegfeld Follies'. 'Being on Broadway was one of the most exciting things in my life because I had always dreamed of it,' she once said. Morgan performed for Presidents Charles de Gaulle, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George W. Bush, and appeared on 'The Ed Sullivan Show' 50 times.
She married Hollywood agent and producer Jerry Weintraub in 1965, and the couple adopted three daughters, Julie, Jamie, and Jody. Morgan also became stepmother to Jerry's son Michael. Although they separated in the 1980s, they never divorced. Weintraub died in 2015.
Morgan retired from music and made rare public appearances, including her 2011 Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony, where she sang 'Fascination' instead of giving a speech. She is survived by her children, six grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.
