Biography: This episode chronicles the life of the late singer, Cass Elliot. Beginning with her Jewish upbringing in Baltimore to her untimely death in London, "Biography: Mama Cass" explores nearly all the aspects of the singer's life, including footage from her two specials, "The Smothers Brothers' Comedy Hour," "The Mike Douglas Show," and many others. This episode contains music clips from her days with The Big Three, The Mugwumps, The Mamas and the Papas, and her solo career. This is definitely one of the best tributes to Cass, with interviews from friends, family, and especially her daughter Owen. Be sure to watch it in reruns - check your local listings! DISCLAIMER: Urban legend has it that Cass Elliot choked to death on a ham sandwich. This is completely FALSE! The British authorities concocted this story because they were impatient to hear from the coroner, who released the report shorltly after her funeral; the report said that Cass did NOT eat anything at all the day she died and the coroner found no traces of drugs in her system. Therefore, it is possible that the sandwich on her bedstand was NOT ham - the police made that part up because of her unhealthy eating habits. Ms. Elliot actually suffered a massive heart attack as a result of her obesity and crash diets. Other factors such as fainting spells (toward the end of her life) and her drug recreation may also have contributed to her death. It should also be noted that Cass was indeed aware of the nature of her obesity and was in fact DENIED bypass surgery the year before she died. So, whenever you hear or read about someone referring to the ham sandwich story, please be sure to correct them.

Starring:

Jack Perkins, Peter Graves

Genre:

Biography, Documentary, History