For millions of Americans who watched television in the 1970s, there was simply nothing else quite like The Gong Show.

It was strange.

It was unpredictable.

And sitting among the celebrity judges was a woman who often seemed perfectly suited to all that chaos.

Jaye P. Morgan.

Morgan, the singer who became one of The Gong Show’s most unforgettable personalities, has died at 94.

She died Monday, August 24, of natural causes in Washington, according to her longtime attorney and friend Mark Sendroff.

For longtime television viewers, her death closes another chapter from an era when game shows weren’t polished or predictable — and almost anything could happen once the cameras started rolling.

Before ‘The Gong Show,’ America Knew Her Voice

What some Gong Show fans may not realize is that Morgan had already been famous for decades before she sat down at that judges’ table.

Born Mary Margaret Morgan in Colorado in 1931, she began performing when she was still a child.

By the 1950s, she had become one of America’s successful female pop singers.

And 1955 was an extraordinary year.

Morgan scored five hits that year alone.

Among her best-known recordings were “That’s All I Want From You,” which reached No. 3, and “The Longest Walk,” which climbed to No. 6.

She recorded with performers including Perry Como and Eddy Arnold and eventually received something few entertainers could claim:

her own television program.

The Jaye P. Morgan Show arrived on NBC in 1956.

But television wasn’t finished with Jaye.

Not even close.

Then Came the Wildest Show on Television

By the 1970s, Morgan had become a familiar television personality.

She appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Merv Griffin Show, Match Game and other programs.

Then Chuck Barris created The Gong Show.

And Jaye found the television program that an entirely new generation would associate with her forever.

The premise was wonderfully ridiculous.

Amateur performers would take the stage.

Celebrity judges watched.

And if an act became unbearable, someone could strike the giant gong and bring the performance to an abrupt end.

Morgan became one of the show’s favorite recurring judges.

But she wasn’t simply sitting behind a desk holding up scores.

Jaye became part of the madness.

Her jokes, unpredictable reactions and willingness to participate in whatever insanity was unfolding made her almost as entertaining as the contestants.

Sometimes more entertaining.

She Even Became Too Wild for ‘The Gong Show’

Considering how outrageous The Gong Show could be, getting yourself in trouble on that program required some effort.

Jaye managed it.

During one infamous 1978 appearance involving Gene Gene the Dancing Machine, Morgan exposed herself on camera.

NBC wasn’t amused.

The incident resulted in Morgan being barred from the program.

But decades later, the story became another part of the mythology surrounding both Jaye and one of television’s strangest shows.

She wasn’t playing the dignified former 1950s singing star.

She was completely willing to join the joke.

And viewers remembered her for it.

Her Career Never Fit Into One Box

Morgan’s entertainment career ultimately stretched across generations.

She was a recording star.

A nightclub performer.

A television host.

A talk-show guest.

A game-show personality.

She even appeared on The Muppet Show.

Later audiences could spot her in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, George Clooney’s film about Gong Show creator Chuck Barris.

But for many Americans who came home, turned on the television and watched The Gong Show during the 1970s, she’ll always be the woman sitting beside that giant gong.

Laughing.

Judging.

And never being entirely predictable.

One More Familiar Face From Classic Television Is Gone

There’s something particularly bittersweet about losing the personalities who populated everyday television decades ago.

They weren’t only movie stars appearing once every few years.

They were inside people’s living rooms.

Night after night.

Year after year.

Jaye P. Morgan was one of those faces.

And hers belonged to an especially unusual period in American television — when Chuck Barris could put almost anyone on a stage, hand three celebrities scorecards and create television nobody could predict.

Jaye fit right in.

She lived to be 94.

Her career stretched from the polished pop music of the 1950s to the wonderfully bizarre television of the 1970s and beyond.

And for anyone who remembers waiting to hear that enormous gong:

another familiar face from classic television has left us.