Mama Cass 'ham sandwich death myth': The Mamas & The Papas singer's daughter debunks story

7 May 2024, 14:17

Rock 'n' roll myths are ten-a-penny.

Given the outlandish happenings over the years and frequent series of deaths that have been shrouded in mystery, you can understand why.

One such myth was attributed to the death of The Mamas & The Papas powerhouse singer 'Mama Cass' Elliot.

Having left the 'California Dreamin'' group to pursue a solo career, Cass seemingly had a bright future having spent time in London developing her artistry and prospects.

After a night of performing and heavy partying across the space of 36 hours, Cass died of a heart attack on 29th July 1974 at the age of just 32.

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Eerily enough, the bedroom where she died - in Flat 12, 9 Curzon Place, Shepherd Market, Mayfair which was owned by Harry Nilsson - The Who's maniacal drummer Keith Moon also died four years later.

Soon after her death, a rumour circulated that Cass Elliot died after choking on a ham sandwich, which has cemented itself as part of the late singer's legacy.

Now her daughter Owen Elliot-Kugell, who was only seven when her mum died, has debunked the myth, claiming Cass Elliot's manager made it up.

"By the time she got back to her flat, it was evening the following day," Elliot-Kugell revealed in a new interview.

"She was hungry, and her dancer made her a sandwich from the only thing that was in the flat - ham - and left it on her bedside table. She never even took a bite."

"Even as a little girl, I would go home to have playdates with some of these kids and it was kind of frequent that one of their parents would make a comment to me like, 'Hey, did your mom really die choking on a ham sandwich?'"

"It bothered me because it was such a horrible story, and I knew that it wasn't true. And it just felt so cruel to have a rumour like that perpetuated. It tortured me."

After nearly fifty years of having to live with the rumour, Elliot-Kugell dug deep to find out how it started.

Face-to-face with her mum's friend Sue Cameron, she asked the journalist, and Cameron fessed up.

"I said, 'I really just wish I knew where that story came from.' [Cameron] looked me in the eye and said: 'I did it'."

Cameron told Elliot-Kugell that she'd called Mama Cass' manager Allan Carr after hearing about her tragic passing.

"So many of her peers had passed away due to drug overdoses that Carr really wanted to protect her," her daughter continued in the interview. "And there was a sandwich that was found there."

Cass Elliot - Dream A Little Dream Of Me (It's Lulu, 07/25/1970)

Carr came up with the story as a way of avoiding further speculation until the full details of her death were available.

However, his thinking had an adverse effect, given it became one of the rock 'n' roll myths that's stuck for five decades.

"Allan Carr wanted to protect his client’s legacy, and in a weird way it did," Elliot-Kugell said. "So now I understand, and it makes sense."

Owen Elliot-Kugell's memoir, My Mama, Cass is out now via Hachette Books, marking the fiftieth anniversary of her mum's death.