Jazz singer Morgana King dies

Morgana King, a boldly original jazz singer with a four-octave voice and dramatic stage presence who was perhaps better known for portraying Marlon Brando’s wife in the first two Godfather movies, died March 22 in Palm Springs, California. She was 87.

Her death, which had not previously been reported, was confirmed by the Riverside County coroner’s office. A representative from the office said the cause was non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

King performed in nightclubs for more than 50 years and recorded about 20 albums. She had a modest hit in 1964 with “A Taste of Honey,” but for most of her career she remained an exacting, uncompromising and even defiant song stylist.

“I am a rebel,” she told the Bergen Record in 1988. “I am not a commercial artist. If I don’t believe in something, I won’t do it. I don’t believe in superstardom, publicity stunts and plugging records. … The only thing I believe in is music. I won’t forfeit anything for that.”

She began performing in nightclubs in her teens and, according to a 2016 article in JazzTimes, once sang “Body and Soul” for Billie Holiday in her dressing room, prompting the jazz great to say, “Take care of this baby, ‘ cause that’s my child.”

She had long harbored theatrical ambitions but had never acted before being cast in the role of Carmela Corleone, the long-suffering wife of the mob boss played by Brando, in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” (1972), where she appeared in a memorable wedding scene, singing the Italian song “Luna Mezz’o Mare.”

King—who was born Maria Grazia Messina on June 4, 1930, and grew up in New York City—said she “knew the culture, the psychology” of “The Godfather” from her Sicilian-born parents.