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Quick Facts
- NAME: Mama Cass
- OCCUPATION: Singer
- BIRTH DATE: September 19, 1941
- DEATH DATE: July 29, 1974
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Baltimore, Maryland
- PLACE OF DEATH: London, England
- Nickname: Mama Cass
- Originally: Ellen Naomi Cohen
- AKA: Cass Elliot
Best Known For
Cass "Mama Cass" Elliot was known for her heavyset figure, and was one of four members of the late 1960s pop sensation The Mamas and the Papas.
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Play NowCass Elliot. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 06:02, May 24, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/mama-cass-9542256.
Cass Elliot. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/mama-cass-9542256 [Accessed 24 May 2013].
"Cass Elliot." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 24 2013, 06:02 http://www.biography.com/people/mama-cass-9542256.
"Cass Elliot," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/mama-cass-9542256 [accessed May 24, 2013].
"Cass Elliot," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/mama-cass-9542256 (accessed May 24, 2013).
Cass Elliot [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 24] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/mama-cass-9542256.
Cass Elliot, http://www.biography.com/people/mama-cass-9542256 (last visited May 24, 2013).
Cass Elliot. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/mama-cass-9542256. Accessed May 24, 2013.
Synopsis
Cass Elliot, better known as "Mama Cass," was born on September 19, 1941, in Baltimore, Maryland. She became a folk singer in 1963. In 1965, she formed The Mamas and the Papas, becoming an overnight success. They produced hits such as "California Dreamin'" and "Monday, Monday." After the band broke up in 1968, Elliot had some success as a solo act, but died suddenly from heart failure, at the age of 32.
Quotes
"How do I tell people who I am? Not being a writer, the only way is to sing songs that reflect my opinions."
Early Life
Cass Elliot, better known as "Mama Cass," was born as Ellen Naomi Cohen on September 19, 1941 in Baltimore, Maryland. After initially pursuing a career in acting, Elliot became a folk singer. In 1963, she gained notice as part of an innovative folk trio called The Big Three. After recording two albums with bandmates Tim Rose and James Hendricks, the band began to fall apart, so she formed a new group, Cass Elliot and the Big Three—which also featured Hendricks, Denny Doherty and Zal Yanovsky. That group, renamed The Mugwumps, played mainly out of a Washington, D.C. nightclub, The Shadows. The Mugwumps broke up in early 1965, after releasing only one single, and Elliot began working as a solo singer.
The Mamas and the Papas
In mid-1965, Elliot began singing with former Mugwump Doherty and the two other members of his new band, The New Journeymen: John and Michelle Phillips. The foursome, known as The Mamas and the Papas, were an overnight success, releasing a hit debut single, "California Dreamin'," and album, If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears, by the end of 1965.
The Mamas and the Papas stayed together until 1968, releasing five albums and a series of Top 10 singles, including "Monday, Monday," "I Saw Her Again" and "Dedicated to the One I Love." Various problems within the group, including romantic jealousy (Elliot was reportedly in love with Doherty; Doherty became involved with Michelle Phillips), drug abuse, alcoholism and Elliot??'s constant struggle with her weight, led to the group's eventual break-up in 1971.
Death and Legacy
On July 29, 1974, after a concert series at the London Palladium, Elliot was found dead in her hotel room. She had succumbed to heart failure, at the age of 32.
Elliot had been married twice, to Hendricks of The Big Three and The Mugwumps (1963-1968), and to Baron Donald von Wiedenman (1971). She had one daughter, Owen Elliot Kugell, in 1967. Owen accepted her mother's award in 1998, when The Mamas and the Papas were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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