Bill Schenley
2007-07-29 04:55:03 UTC
Cass Elliot, Pop Singer, Dies; Star of the Mamas and Papas;
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FROM: The New York Times (July 30th 1974) ~
By John Rockwell, Special to The Times
LONDON, July 29
" Mama" Cass Elliot, the American pop singer, died
here tonight at the age of 33.
Miss Elliot, who became famous with the Mamas
and the Papas group, became ill suddenly in her
Mayfair apartment. An autopsy will be held. She
was in London preparing to give a concert. Her
physician said the singer probably choked on a
sandwich.
A Hearty Performer
Miss Elliot had pursued a solo career since 1968,
but she was still best known to the general public
as the largest, most visible member of the Mamas
and the Papas, a folk-rock group formed in 1965.
Miss Elliot sang contralto with the group, and
served as the large, homey foil to the ethereal
beauty and the soprano of Michelle Phillips. But
by 1967 signs of strain had become obvious in the
group, and Miss Elliot precipitated the final
breakup by embarking on a solo career in 1968.
If it did not bring her the widespread celebrity and
the commercial success she had enjoyed in the
mid-nineteen-sixties, it still amounted to a
successful working career. Miss Elliot appeared in
nightclubs and concerts, was a guest on television
shows, and kept on producing records. At her
death, she was preparing for a British tour.
Miss Elliot, formerly Ellen Naomi Cohen, was
born in Baltimore on Feb. 19, 1941, and raised in
Baltimore and in Arlington, Va. By the age of 17
she had manifested an interest in acting, and had
assumed the name Cassandra Elliot - her father, a
restaurateur, had nicknamed her Cass after the
Trojan prophetess; the Elliot, she said later in an
interview, was in honor of a friend who had been
killed in an automobile accident.
She moved to Greenwich Village at the age of
19, appeared in a number of Off Broadway
productions, and directed at the Cafe La Mama.
She also began to perform as a folk singer in
New York's then-burgeoning folk scene. She
was a member of a short-lived group called the
Big Three - which included her husband, James
Hendricks and of another group called
Mugwumps, which included Denny Doherty, the
future Papa, as well as John Sebastian and Zal
Yanovsky, who later helped form the Lovin'
Spoonful.
Miss Elliot's reputation for honesty and hearty,
self-parodistic good times did much to endear
the Mamas and the Papas to their fans. Miss
Elliot stood as proof that one didn't have to be
beautiful or thin to be successful and idolized and
to live in lavish Beverly Hills splendor. During
her solo career, Miss Elliot, who stood 5 feet
5 inches tall and weighed up to 250 pounds,
pursued a variety of crash diets, and at one time
claimed to have lost 120 pounds. But she retained
her earthy image until the end.
Miss Elliot divorced Mr. Hendricks in 1969, after
six years of marriage. In 1972 she was married
to Baron Donald von Weidenman, a German
nobleman, and later divorced. She is survived by
a daughter, Owen Vanessa, from her first marriage;
her mother, Bess Cohen; a brother, Joseph Cohen;
and a sister, Leah Kunkel.
---
Photos:
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Dream a Little Dream of Me
California Dreamin'
(w/The Mamas and the Papas)
Photo:
Loading Image...
FROM: The New York Times (July 30th 1974) ~
By John Rockwell, Special to The Times
LONDON, July 29
" Mama" Cass Elliot, the American pop singer, died
here tonight at the age of 33.
Miss Elliot, who became famous with the Mamas
and the Papas group, became ill suddenly in her
Mayfair apartment. An autopsy will be held. She
was in London preparing to give a concert. Her
physician said the singer probably choked on a
sandwich.
A Hearty Performer
Miss Elliot had pursued a solo career since 1968,
but she was still best known to the general public
as the largest, most visible member of the Mamas
and the Papas, a folk-rock group formed in 1965.
Miss Elliot sang contralto with the group, and
served as the large, homey foil to the ethereal
beauty and the soprano of Michelle Phillips. But
by 1967 signs of strain had become obvious in the
group, and Miss Elliot precipitated the final
breakup by embarking on a solo career in 1968.
If it did not bring her the widespread celebrity and
the commercial success she had enjoyed in the
mid-nineteen-sixties, it still amounted to a
successful working career. Miss Elliot appeared in
nightclubs and concerts, was a guest on television
shows, and kept on producing records. At her
death, she was preparing for a British tour.
Miss Elliot, formerly Ellen Naomi Cohen, was
born in Baltimore on Feb. 19, 1941, and raised in
Baltimore and in Arlington, Va. By the age of 17
she had manifested an interest in acting, and had
assumed the name Cassandra Elliot - her father, a
restaurateur, had nicknamed her Cass after the
Trojan prophetess; the Elliot, she said later in an
interview, was in honor of a friend who had been
killed in an automobile accident.
She moved to Greenwich Village at the age of
19, appeared in a number of Off Broadway
productions, and directed at the Cafe La Mama.
She also began to perform as a folk singer in
New York's then-burgeoning folk scene. She
was a member of a short-lived group called the
Big Three - which included her husband, James
Hendricks and of another group called
Mugwumps, which included Denny Doherty, the
future Papa, as well as John Sebastian and Zal
Yanovsky, who later helped form the Lovin'
Spoonful.
Miss Elliot's reputation for honesty and hearty,
self-parodistic good times did much to endear
the Mamas and the Papas to their fans. Miss
Elliot stood as proof that one didn't have to be
beautiful or thin to be successful and idolized and
to live in lavish Beverly Hills splendor. During
her solo career, Miss Elliot, who stood 5 feet
5 inches tall and weighed up to 250 pounds,
pursued a variety of crash diets, and at one time
claimed to have lost 120 pounds. But she retained
her earthy image until the end.
Miss Elliot divorced Mr. Hendricks in 1969, after
six years of marriage. In 1972 she was married
to Baron Donald von Weidenman, a German
nobleman, and later divorced. She is survived by
a daughter, Owen Vanessa, from her first marriage;
her mother, Bess Cohen; a brother, Joseph Cohen;
and a sister, Leah Kunkel.
---
Photos:
Loading Image...
Loading Image...
Loading Image...
Dream a Little Dream of Me
California Dreamin'
(w/The Mamas and the Papas)