Owen Elliot-Kugell, the daughter of late The Mamas & the Papas member Cass Elliot, is setting the file straight on her mom’s loss of life in her new memoir, My Mama, Cass.
In July 1974, Cass handed away in London from a coronary heart assault when Elliot-Kugell was 7-years-old, dying in her sleep at age 32. Nonetheless, an city legend unfold claiming that the singer had died from choking on a ham sandwich.
“In my youthful years, when folks would discuss to me about my mother, it was all the time in regards to the silly sandwich,” Elliot-Kugell instructed Folks journal. “I might go over to youngsters’ homes after college and finally considered one of their dad and mom would ask me, ‘Did your mother actually die choking on a ham sandwich?’ To start with, the chutzpah to say that to a baby is simply loopy however it occurred lots. So I felt it was my obligation to determine what that story was all about.”
For My Mama, Cass, Elliot-Kugell spoke with a few of her mom’s pals, together with former Hollywood Reporter columnist Sue Cameron. Elliot-Kugell shared that in her dialog with Cameron for the guide, she discovered that the author had referred to as Cass’ residence to verify in on the musician. The Mamas & the Papas member’s supervisor Allan Carr was the one to choose up the telephone and break the information of Cass’ passing.
“He was crying and upset and he stated, ‘There’s a half-eaten ham sandwich on the nightstand,’” Cameron instructed Folks. She stated Carr, to keep away from hypothesis in regards to the nature of her loss of life, requested Cameron to say Cass had died from “choking on the sandwich.”
Again in 2020, Cameron instructed Folks about her telephone dialog with Carr, which she additionally detailed in her 2018 guide Hollywood Secrets and techniques and Scandals. “I didn’t ask any questions,” she wrote. “I knew she didn’t choke on a ham sandwich. I didn’t consider Allan, however I assumed simply do it as a result of one thing was unsuitable.”
Talking about Cameron’s choice to comply with Carr’s request, Elliot-Kugell understands that it was carried out to guard each Cass’ legacy and Elliot-Kugell’s effectively being. “In a bizarre means, I’m grateful for that loopy story,” Elliot-Kugell stated. “As a lot because it brought on me grief, and folks made jokes, I now understand it stored her related and able to shine once more.”
My Mama, Cass arrives on Could 7. It’s stated to incorporate “intimate household and archival photographs, in addition to interviews and reminiscences from well-known pals, followers and colleagues who cherished and revered Cass.”