Mama Cass Appreciation Day.

It was 43 years ago today - July 29, 1974 - that Mama Cass died in London, England at the age of 32. She was performing a 2 week engagement at the London Palladium and after one of her shows she was found dead in her hotel room.

Despite urban legend she did not die from choking on a ham sandwich - it fact, it was revealed that nothing was found in her windpipe - but rather from heart failure due to obesity. One doctor stated that she weighed twice as much as she should have and one of her heart muscles had turned to fat.

Cass Elliot was the breakout star from the super group The Mamas And The Papas, and went on to have a successful solo career.

Rest In Peace Mama Cass and great memories! (Could someone post a photo of Mama Cass, please?).

One of my favorite clips of Cass and John Denver

The ham sandwich was found by her dead body. Maybe she didn't choke on it, but it contributed.

R2 It was not the ham sandwich that contributed to her death but too much eating and yo yo dieting. At one point she lost 100 pounds then shot back up again. It was too much stress on her heart and body and we lost her at an early age.

[quote] It was not the ham sandwich that contributed to her death but too much eating

a ham sandwich.

Women battle weight issues for the sake of image in show business. Mama Cass was quite heavy and initially John Phillips did not want her in the Mamas and Papas because of her weight.

Karen Carpenter was shocked when a newspaper review referred to her as the chubby girl singer of The Carpenters. She began dieting and ended up very anorexic and it eventually killed her. Sad.

Cass, Joni and, in a timeless frock, Mary.

[quote] She began dieting and ended up very anorexic and it eventually killed her.

The ham sandwich she didn't eat.

I always liked "Dream a little Dream"

I'm always reminded of this movie whenever I hear about Mama Cass

Heeeeeeeeere's Mama Cass!

This sentiment I grew up on...then Reagan, Bush, and Trump. Sigh.

Leah was one of the Coyote Sisters.

Another great Cass song not known enough.

I'll always remember her at Monterrey Pop drooling over Janis Joplin. And she and Jimmy Morrison were contemporaries at George Washington high School in Alexandria, but I don't know if they were in the same class.

Cass had the best voice in the group.

Awww love these clips. Mama Cass was a true talent as was John Denver. Beautiful.

Cass, Carpenter and Denver died way too soon.

Wonder how Joni M is doing?

I actually saw one of her last shows at the Palladium. (Yeah, I'm old.) Phenomenal performance. Tragic loss.

Takes me back to my......distant...youth.

What stores are open today?

Muscle does not "turn to fat". Its amazing the kind of stupidity people will believe.

The Baroness and the Dame........

And a "sound" r23. Debbie Reynolds said that the reason she didn't have a recording career along with her movies was, that while she could sing, she didn't have a "sound".

She was better than Barbra S. had more soul

r25, she was from Alexandria, Va.

Love her.

Keep up the boomer music threads.

she used to do the Carol Burnette show all the time and they would always be making fun of her weight and apparently it was heart-breaking for her but she needed the money. She used to play one cringe-worthy character in particular that was a "BIG" baby.

She had spirit, vulnerability and humor, as well as a good pop voice. It would have been very interesting to see where her career would have gone.

Can her daughter sing?

Muscles don't "turn into fat," OP. also, smoking is bad for you.

I wonder if the name of the man who fathered her daughter Owen was ever publicly revealed. During her lifetime she wouldn't say, although after Cass's death, Michelle Phillips helped Owen identify him.

During The Mamas And The Papas days, John Phillips wrote the song "Words Of Love" as a complete lead vocal for Mama Cass. He rehearsed her hard and then did the song all in one take - the stress and all the work caused Cass to collapse on the floor at the very end of the song and they revived her by throwing water on her. But it paid off because it was one of the group's biggest hits.

I don't know much about The Mamas and the Papas, but I've read enough on DL to know that John Phillips was an awful human being.

R27 Nope, Mama Cass Elliot was born in Baltimore, Maryland.

R29 Yup, in all of the shows she was on including The Smothers Brothers they used to poke fun at her weight which she got sick of. During one show (I've forgotten which) she even snapped at them and told them they had beat the horse dead with the fat jokes. Her record label even named her greatest hits album, Mama's Big Ones. She tried to be stoic but it got to her sometimes.

Bitch stole my ham sandwich and started my downward spiral

Pics?

This one hung in the creative department of the ad agency my mom worked at.

R 39 Thank you. Very unusual photo. Nice.

Mama Cass Elliot and Michelle Phillips were complete opposites. Cass was very heavy and brunette. Michelle was very thin, blond, pretty, and men loved her. But it was Mama Cass who became the bigger star. Success is sometimes the best revenge.

Michelle lives still, no?

That is a surprisingly lovely photo @r39.

R42 Yes, out of all the Mamas and Papas Michelle Phillips is the only one alive today.

My introduction to Mama Cass was via an episode of 'Scooby Doo' on the [italic]USA Cartoon Express,[/italic] she owned a candy factory haunted by green ghosts.

Yes r29 I would cringe when I saw the big baby character. I always wondered if it bothered her. How unfortunate. Carol Burnette shows no evidence of shame in life or career. I hope Netflix cans Carol's new show before it airs.

I read on another thread that there was a Coke and an uneaten sandwich next to the bed. There was a sandwich but it did not factor into her death.

Thank You kindly OP for this thread. Case Elliott has been an under appreciated artist.

R47, you didn't read that in this thread?

Cass was an off and on junkie for years. I think she overdosed.

r5

If Mama Cass had shared that sandwich with Karen, both would be alive today

[quote]I don't know much about The Mamas and the Papas, but I've read enough on DL to know that John Phillips was an awful human being.

He did a one-man show some years ago and most of was cringe worthy, especially the parts about Cass.

I hadn't heard her music (or knew it was her, anyway) until I saw "Beautiful Thing" where they mention the ham sandwich and "Dream a Little Dream" is played during the end scene that always makes me tear up. Such a great song!

This was a tragic loss, because had Cass lived she’d have almost certainly grown as a first rate singer, but she’d have forged a huge Hollywood acting career. She’d have probably been cast in a role like Miss Hannigan in the 1982 ‘Annie’ and then probably got many of the types of roles Bette Midler got. But due to her physicality she would have been offered a lot more character driven parts too.

r3, the same thing happened to the star of HANGOVER SQUARE. Laird Cregar died at 31 after crash-dieting.

I was just thinking the same thing, R56. I wonder if Bette's career trajectory would have been a little different had Cass lived.

I LIVE for the Chrissy Metz threads, but she is/was/will never be/ in Mama Cass territory, either size wise (Mama Cass was at most 1/8th of a Chrissy) or, more importantly, talent wise. Not trying to be a thread monitor cunt, just want to shut down the jokes before they start. We love you Mama Cass.

R58 Strangely I do think Bette Midler’s film career may have been somewhat different had Cass Elliott lived. This has absolutely nothing to do with Midler’s talent, but the fact that Elliott would have been the more established star by the time Midler was ascending. Midler would have then been compared to Elliott who would have been offered the gigs and roles first. Finding herself only getting the work Elliott turned down.

You could say something similar about Judi Dench and Glenda Jackson. There is no disputing Dench is a fantastic actress, but had Jackson not left the industry in 1990, a great deal of the film parts that Dench was offered, would have otherwise gone to Jackson first, who was a highly celebrated film actress.

[quote] Cass had the best voice in the group.

Yep. Check out this from before Mamas and the Papas. That's good harmonies and power vocals.

She knew how to get the best out of a good kaftan.

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