Owen Elliot-Kugell, daughter of singer Mama Cass, said her mom didn’t really choke to death on a ham sandwich.
“There was a ham sandwich, but she didn’t eat it and she didn’t choke on it. So enough with the jokes,” she said. The rumored cause of death has been the butt of jokes, including in the popular comedy “Austin Powers” (1997), for decades.
Ellen Cohen went by the stage name Cass Elliot and was called “Mama Cass” early in her career. She rose to fame as a member of the singing group the Mamas & the Papas and performed hit songs including “California Dreamin,’” “Monday, Monday,” and “Words of Love” in the late 1960s.
Elliot received the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary (R&R) Performance for “Monday, Monday” in 1967.
Elliot-Kugell is releasing a memoir, “My Mama, Cass,” ahead of the 50th anniversary of Elliot’s death on July 29. She…
