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Morgana King dead at 87 – Jazz singer and Godfather actress passes away after a battle with cancer
The Godfather actress and jazz singer died following a battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
JAZZ singer and Godfather actress Morgana King has died aged 87 following a battle with cancer.
The star passed away on March 22 this year but her death was only revealed earlier this week.
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A New York native, Ms King was best known for playing Carmela Corleone, the wife of Marlon Brando's character Don Vito in the first two Godfather films.
According to the , her death was confirmed by the Riverside County coroner’s office.
A representative from the office said the cause was non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, it's reported.
John Hoglund, a close friend of Ms King, posted a tribute to her on Facebook, saying: "She passed away of natural causes at her home in Palm Springs recently.
"Though many will remember her as Marlon Brando's wife and Al Pacino's mother in the iconic The Godfather movies (l & ll), she was one of the most revered and unique jazz singers of the last century who was a major part of the jazz scene along with numerous greats like Charlie (Bird) Parker, Billie Holiday."
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He continued: "Her famed recording of A Taste of Honey and Corcovado (Quiet Nights) were her most famous hits.
"Her close friend Frank Sinatra referred to her as "... a perfect singer like no other.";
"She made over 30 albums and all are collector's items. We were good friends for over 30 years."
Ms King was married twice, the first at age 17 to jazz trumpeter Tony Fruscella with whom she had a daughter Graysan.
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The marriage lasted nine years before the couple divorced, and Ms King went on to marry jazz trombonist Willie Dennis in 1961, who later died in 1965 in an automobile accident in New York.
Ms King's daughter Graysan died in 2008.
Born Maria Grazia Morgana Messina to Sicilian parents in Pleasantville New York, in 1946, Ms King grew up with five siblings.
Her father owned a coal and ice business and played the guitar and piano by ear.
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Ms King's musical talents were discovered at the age of 13 when she was overheard singing I'll See You Again from Noel Coward's operetta Bitter Sweet.
She was later awarded a scholarship to the Metropolitan School of Music.
She began singing in nightclubs in the 1950s, where she was discovered by a record label executive who was impressed with her multi-octave range.
In 1956, Morgana King released her first album For You, For Me, For Evermore.
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Throughout her singing career, she headlined clubs and concerts and travelled throughout the US, Europe, Australia and South America as well as producing 30 albums, and even contended with The Beatles at the 1965 Grammys for Best New Artist.
Her most notable hit was A Taste of Honey in 1964.
It's reported the songstress was "adored" by Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, opera star Eileen Farrell and Stevie Wonder.
She once sang Body and Soul for Holiday in her dressing room, prompting the jazz great to say, “Take care of this baby, ’cause that’s my child", .
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She began her acting career in hit mafia film The Godfather, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, as Carmela Corleone the wife of Don Vito Corleone played by Marlon Brando in 1972.
In the film, Ms King sang Luna Mezzo Mare during one of the scenes at her daughter Connie's wedding.
She later reprised her role as Carmela in The Godfather II in 1974, where her character dies aged 62 due to natural causes.
In the sequel, Ms King refused to be filmed in the coffin for superstitious reasons, leaving director Francis Ford Coppola's mother to stand-in as a replacement.
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