Cass Elliot

Cass Elliot was married twice in her lifetime. Her first marriage in 1963 was to her band mate James Hendricks. The marriage was never consummated and was later annulled in 1968..

The singer cum actress gave birth to her first child, daughter Owen Vanessa Elliot, in 1967. She never publicly identified the father of her baby but later it was revealed that Chuck Day was Owen's father.

In 1971, Elliot married Donald von Wiedenman, a journalist. The couple divorced a few months later.

Cass Elliot was born as Ellen Naomi Cohen on September 19, 1941 in Baltimore, Maryland. Her father Philip Cohen operated various businesses. Although he faced financial problems initially, he ultimately succeeded in running a profitable lunch wagon business. Her mother Bess was a trained nurse. Elliot had two siblings: Joseph and Leah. Her sister, professionally known as Leah Kunkel, is also a singer and a recording artist.

Elliot spent her early years with her family in Alexandria, Virginia, and later moved to Baltimore at the age of 15. She studied at George Washington High School and later attended Forest Park High School.

While attending Forest Park, Cass Elliot developed a passion for acting. She eventually won a minor part in a play titled ‘The Boy Friend’ that premiered at the Hilltop Theatre in Maryland.

After leaving high school and moving to New York City to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, she toured with the 1962 musical ‘The Music Man’.

She then met singers John Brown and Tim Rose and the trio started performing as the Triumvirate. In 1963, Brown was replaced by James Hendricks and the group was renamed ‘Big 3’. That year, Cass recorded her first song with the group "Winkin', Blinkin', and Nod" that were released by FM Records.

In 1964, the group was featured in an "open mic" night event at Greenwich Village’s night cub The Bitter End. Also the same year, Tim Rose left the Big 3 and Elliot and Hendricks collaborated with Canadians Denny Doherty and Zal Yanovsky to form the group Mugwumps. The group performed for about eight months after which Elliot performed solo for a while.

In the mid-1960s, Denny Doherty asked Cass Elliot to become a part of the New Journeymen, a group that also consisted of John Phillips and his wife Michelle. This group was later renamed to The Mamas & the Papas.

Cass Elliot featured in two TV variety specials: CBS’s ‘Don't Call Me Mama Anymore’ and ABC’s ‘The Mama Cass Television Show’ in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

During the early 1970s, she was a regular guest on variety shows and talks shows including ‘The Mike Douglas Show,’ ‘Hollywood Squares,’ ‘The Andy Williams Show,’ ‘The Johnny Cash Show,’ ‘The Carol Burnett Show,’ and ‘The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.’

She acted in the flick ‘Pufnstuf’ in 1970. Two years later, she made appearances on the series ‘The Julie Andrews Hour’.

The American singer performed in a music-comedy-western special titled ‘Saga of Sonora’ alongside Zero Mostel, Vince Edwards, Lesley Ann Warren and Jill St. John in 1973.

She made guest appearances in ‘The Tonight Show’ multiple times. She also co-hosted ABC’s ‘The Music Scene’ and appeared in ‘The New Scooby-Doo Movies’, ‘The Red Skelton Show’ and ‘Love, American Style’ among others.