Morgana King, American singer and actress
Maria Grazia Morgana Messina (June 4, 1930 – March 22, 2018), 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.
King had her debut and breakout role in film as Carmela Corleone in The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974). She had roles in three additional films including her latest 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. Morgana died on March 22, 2018, in Palm Springs, California.
1930Jun, 4
Morgana King
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Events on 1930
- 12Mar
Salt March
Mahatma Gandhi begins the Salt March, a 200-mile march to the sea to protest the British monopoly on salt in India - 6Apr
Salt Satyagraha
Gandhi raises a lump of mud and salt and declares, "With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire," beginning the Salt Satyagraha. - 7Jul
Hoover Dam
Industrialist Henry J. Kaiser begins construction of Boulder Dam (now known as Hoover Dam). - 6Sep
Hipólito Yrigoyen
Democratically elected Argentine president Hipólito Yrigoyen is deposed in a military coup. - 24Oct
Getúlio Vargas
A bloodless coup d'état in Brazil ousts Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa, the last President of the First Republic. Getúlio Vargas is then installed as "provisional president".