Person · Female
Morgana King
- From
- Mount Pleasant, United States
- Active
- 1930–2018
- Releases
- 43
- jazz
About
Maria Grazia Morgana Messina (June 4, 1930 – March 22, 2018), better known as Morgana King, was an American jazz singer and actress. She began a professional singing career at sixteen years old. In her twenties, she was singing at a Greenwich Village nightclub when she was recognized for her unique phrasing and vocal range, described as a four-octave contralto range. She was signed to a label and began recording solo albums. She recorded dozens of albums well into the late 1990s.
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King had her debut and breakout role in film as Mama Corleone in The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974). She had roles in three additional films including her last performance in A Brooklyn State of Mind in 1997.
She was twice married to fellow jazz musicians, first to Tony Fruscella and later to Willie Dennis. King died on March 22, 2018, in Palm Springs, California.
Discography
Albums
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For You, For Me, Forevermore Apple Music
-
Sings the Blues Apple Music
-
Let Me Love You
-
Folk Songs a La King
-
The Greatest Songs Ever Swung
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The End of a Love Affair
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With a Taste of Honey
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Miss Morgana King Apple Music
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It's a Quiet Thing Apple Music
-
More Morgana
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Wild Is Love Apple Music
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Gemini Changes Apple Music
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I Know How It Feels to Be Lonely
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Cuore di Mama
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New Beginnings Apple Music
-
Stretchin’ Out
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Higher Ground
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Looking Through the Eyes of Love
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Portraits
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Everything Must Change
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Simply Eloquent
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Another Time, Another Space
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A Taste of Honey Apple Music
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This Is Always Apple Music
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Every Once in a While
Singles
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Like a Seed / Jennifer Had
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Mine for the Taking / Four Walls, Two Windows and One Broken Heart
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Song for You / You Are the Sunshine of My Life
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I Know How It Feels to Be Lonely / Only Know I Loved You
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The Look Of Love / I Have Loved Me A Man
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When the World Was Young / Lazy Afternoon
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In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning / Delovely
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Wild Is Love / Bee-Bom
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A Taste of Honey / Corcavado
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Try to Remember / Cuore di Mama
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Eleanor Rigby / Didn't We
Compilations
Links
Listen
Married
Also known as
Maria Grazia Morgana Messina · Morgana Messina
Identifiers
- MusicBrainz
- b601ade5-7980-47d9-bcab-6a099b258a95
- ISNI
- 0000000114367557
Data from MusicBrainz, saved 9 Nov 2026. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, covers from the Cover Art Archive and Apple Music.