If you asked someone how Mama Cass from the Mamas and Papas died, they would tell you she died choking on a ham sandwich. But is that how the 32-year-old met her fate in 1974?
Her daughter, Owen Elliot-Kugel, who was 7 at the time, wrote a memoir, and in My Mama Cass, she answers that question. Elliot-Kugel says she spoke to former Hollywood Reporter columnist Sue Cameron, who had called to check in on her mother on that dreadful day. She did, Cass’ manager, Alann Carr, picked up the phone. “He was crying and upset and he said, ‘There’s a half-eaten ham sandwich on the nightstand,’” recalls Cameron. In a panic, he told her, “You have to do this. Just say she died choking on the sandwich.”
Why would he lie? In the years leading up to her death, several other musicians like Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin passed away from drug overdoses, and he was trying to protect Mama Cass in one final act for his client.
That lie haunted her daughter when she was growing up. But she tells People, “I really believe they were protecting her legacy. And they were trying to protect me. And in a weird way, I’m grateful for that crazy story. As much as it caused me grief, and people made jokes, I now realize it kept her relevant and ready to shine again.”
Even though there were drugs in Cass’ system, the singer’s cause of death was a heart attack.
My Mama Cass will be available to pre-order on May 7th at Bookshop.org.
