1941 - 1974

The life of singer and actress Cass Elliott is a perfect example of talent and sheer force of will overcoming physical shortcomings. Her burnished contralto vocals with the Mamas and the Papas and her self-directed humor made Mama Cass a much loved star of pop culture in the 1960s and 1970s.
   Cass Elliott was born Ellen Naomi Cohen in Baltimore, Maryland, on September 19, 1941. When she was 19 she moved to New York City, where she changed her name to Cass Elliot. By the early 1960s, Cass had made herself a home in the Greenwich Village folk-music scene. She sang with a group called the Mugwumps, which also included future Lovin' Spoonful members John Sebastian and Zal Yanovsky. Another member of the group was singer Denny Doherty. He and Cass created the Mamas and the Papas along with John and Michelle Phillips.
   After struggling in new York for a few years, the group moved to Los Angeles, where their glorious four-part harmonies and bohemian look immediately caused a stir. Signed to ABC-Dunhill Records, the Mamas and the Papas exploded across the radio airwaves in 1966, having four top 10 hits: "California Dreaming", "Monday Monday", "I Saw Her Again," and "Words of Love." Mama Cass sang the lead on "Words of Love". The Mamas and the Papas never repeated their 1966 success, but they had two more hits the following year, "Dedicated to the One I Love," and the autobiographical "Creeque Alley," with its famous line, "And no one is getting fat except for Mama Cass."
   John, who wrote most of their songs, was the groups musical leader, but Mama Cass was the groups spiritual leader.. She was always the earth mother, weighing more than 200 pounds, (about 100 kilos) and usually clad in a tentlike muumuu. "I feel hip-bones are overrated," she once said, with typical humor. Cass's house in laurel canyon near L.A became a popular place for pop stars to hang out. Although she was never considered to be even remotely beautiful, her friends were enchanted by her inner beauty.
   When the Mamas and the Papas split up in 1968, Cass struck out on her own. Switching from rock to ballads, she had her biggest hit with "Dream a Little Dream of Me" in 1968. She was a regular on television talk and variety shows, and hosted her own special in 1969. The show was called "Don't Call Me Mama Anymore." She recorded a poorly recieved duet album with British singer-songwriter Dave Mason in 1971, and then turned her full energies toward acting.
   During the mid 1970s, Cass seemed content with her life. She gave birth to a daughter, Owen Vanessa, but even her best friends had no clues to the identity of her little girl's father. While Cass was in London for two concerts at the Palladium, she died in her hotel room on july 29, 1974. She had choked to death on the sandwich she was eating when she suffered a heart attack. Cass Elliott was 32 years old