King, jazz singer & ‘Godfather’ Mama

Morgana King, the jazz singer who appeared in a pair of “Godfather” films as Mama Corleone, the wife of Marlon Brando’s Don Vito Corleone, has died. She was 87.

News of King’s death on March 22 was revealed by friend John Hoglund on Facebook, while the Riverside County coroner’s office confirmed the news to The Washington Post.

King (inset) died of nonHodgkin’s lymphoma in Palm Springs, Calif.

She released her debut album, “Morgana King Sings the Blues,” in 1955, but her major breakthrough came in 1964 with her cover of “A Taste of Honey,” which went on to become her signature tune.

Though nominated for the Best New Artist Grammy that same year, she was bested by another group who’d covered “A Taste of Honey” – The Beatles.

Still, she went on to release 20 albums over the course of her career, including three under Frank Sinatra’s label, and had another hit with “Corcovado” (“Quiet Nights”).

Despite having never appeared in a film before, King was cast as Mama Corleone in 1972’s “The Godfather” after a meeting with producer Al Ruddy and director Francis Ford Coppola that consisted of nothing more than a “hello and goodbye.”

“We just talked, that’s all. I didn’t even read for them,” she said in a 1971 interview with UPI.

King famously danced and sang the Italian song “Luna Mezz’o Mare” in the film’s opening wedding sequence.