Cass Elliot

Singer. Born 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. She recorded two albums with bandmates Tim Rose and James
Hendricks before the band began to fall apart, and she formed a new group, Cass Elliot and the Big
Three, also featuring 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.

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 its
eventual breakup in 1971.

Though all four members of The Mamas and the Papas attempted to start music careers outside the
group, only Elliot met with any real success. The band's last hit, "Dream a Little Dream of Me,"
became a kind of theme song for Elliot and propelled "Mama Cass," as she had become known, into a
solo career. All in all, she recorded seven solo albums, including Dream a Little Dream (1968), Make
Your Own Kind of Music (1969), Mama's Big Ones (1970), Cass Elliot (1972), and Don't Call Me Mama
Anymore (1973). She also recorded an album in 1970 with rock star Dave Mason. In addition, Elliot
appeared in the 1970 film, Pufnstuf; starred in two prime time television specials in 1969 and 1973;
served as a guest host of The Tonight Show; and performed on a number of other TV programs
throughout the early 1970s, alongside such personalities as Julie Andrews, Johnny Cash, Red Skelton,
Ed Sullivan, Tom Jones, and Carol Burnett.

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 in 1971. She had one daughter, Owen Elliot Kugell, in 1967. In 1998, Owen
accepted her mother's award when The Mamas and the Papas were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame.