Ellen Naomi (Cohen) Elliot (1941 - 1974)

Born 19 Sep 1941 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Ancestors

Died 29 Jul 1974 at age 32 in Westminster, London, England, United Kingdom

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Biography

Cass (Cohen) Elliot is Notable.

Cass Elliot (born Ellen Naomi Cohen; September 19, 1941 – July 29, 1974), also known as Mama Cass, was an American singer and actress, best known as a member of The Mamas & The Papas as a much needed vocal addition. John Phillips had first excluded her, before realizing her talent.^[1]

After the group broke up, she released five solo albums. In 1998 she was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for her work with The Mamas & The Papas.

Cass was married twice. First to her band mate James Hendricks (in the Big 3 and the Mugwumps). Their marriage was annulled. Second to Donald von Wiedenman, a journalist. They divorced after only a few months.

She had one daughter, Owen Elliot Kugell, in 1967. She did not publicly reveal who the father of her child was, but Michelle Phillips helped Owen locate him. It was Chuck Day, who had worked with The Mamas & The Papas as bassist and guitarist.

Owen accepted her mother's award in 1998, when The Mamas & The Papas were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.^[2]

Ellen Naomi Cohen was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of Philip Cohen (d: 1962) and his wife Bess (née Levine, 1915–1964). Both her parents were the children of Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire. Elliot's family was subject to significant financial stresses and uncertainties during her childhood years. Her father, involved in several business ventures throughout his life, ultimately succeeded through the development of a lunch wagon business in Baltimore, providing meals to construction workers. Her mother was a trained nurse. Elliot had a brother Joseph and a younger sister Leah, professionally known as Leah Kunkel, who also became a singer and recording artist, as a member of the Coyote Sisters and also as a solo artist and background vocalist. Elliot's early life was spent with her family in Alexandria, Virginia, before the family moved to Baltimore, when Elliot was fifteen, and where they had briefly lived at the time of Elliot's birth.

Elliot adopted the name "Cass" in high school, possibly borrowing it from actress Peggy Cass, as Denny Doherty tells it. She assumed the surname Elliot some time later, in memory of a friend who had died. While in Alexandria, Virginia, Elliot attended George Washington High School, which Jim Morrison of the Doors also attended. When Elliot's family returned to Baltimore, she attended Forest Park High School.

While attending Forest Park High School, Elliot became interested in acting. She won a small part in the play The Boy Friend, a summer stock production at the Hilltop Theatre in Owings Mills, Maryland. She left high school shortly before graduation and moved to New York City to further her acting career (as recounted in the lyrics to "Creeque Alley").

Mama Cass Elliot was in London, appearing at The Palladium, when she died in her sleep, of heart failure, at the age of 32, on July 29th, 1974.^[3][4] There were conflicting news articles that claimed she choked to death on a ham sandwich.

Sources

^{[3] [4]}

1. ↑ Fiegel, Eddie (2005). Dream a Little Dream of Me: The Life of Mama Cass Elliot. London: Sidgwick & Jackson.
2. ↑ "Mama Cass". 2020. Biography.>Cass Elliot Bio
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} FamilySearch.org, England Death Index. "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVCB-4R33 : 4 September 2014), Cass Elliot, 1974; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Death, Westminster, London, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} FamilySearch.org, US Death Index. "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J1SY-MZK : 24 November 2020), Cass Elliot, Jul 1974; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).

See Also:

• Cass Elliot, Personal Life, Wikipedia
• Find a Grave, database and images : accessed 30 November 2020), memorial page for Cass Elliot (19 Sep 1941–29 Jul 1974), Find A Grave: Memorial #319, citing Mount Sinai Memorial Park, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA ; Maintained by Find A Grave Cremated.
• "Ellen Naomi Cohen, Pop Star 'Mama' Cass Elliot, Dies At 33 - Jewish Telegraphic Agency". 1974. Jewish Telegraphic Agency.>Mama Cass Elliot dies at 33
• "A Graphic Bio Of Cass Elliot Traces The Singer’S Complicated Rise To Fame". 2017. Tablet Magazine.>Table Mag, Red Hot Mama
• Mama Cass, Geni
• U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007
• England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007
• https://www.newspapers.com/article/express-and-news-mamas-and-papas/64278334/
• https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-independent-journal/12714302/

Bibliography

• Fiegel, Eddie (2005). Dream a Little Dream of Me: The Life of Mama Cass Elliot. Published in London: Sidgwick & Jackson.