Posted on 05/07/2024 7:01:07 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The myth that Cass Elliot died by choking on a ham sandwich in 1974 was invented by her manager in an attempt to protect her legacy, the singer’s daughter said.
Owen Elliot-Kugell was 7 years old when Elliot passed away at 32 from a heart attack after 36 hours of performing and partying. The former The Mamas & the Papas vocalist had been developing her solo career in London, U.K,. and seemed to have a bright future ahead of her.
“By the time she got back to her flat, it was evening the following day,” Elliot-Kugell told the BBC 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.”
She added: “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 rumor like that perpetuated. It tortured me.”
After five decades of wanting to know where the story had come from, she was face-to-face with journalist Sue Cameron – a friend of Elliot – who owned 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.’”
Cass Elliot Ham Sandwich Myth Makes Sense to Daughter Cameron reported that she’d called Elliot’s manager, Allan Carr, on hearing of the tragedy. “So many of her peers had passed away due to drug overdoses that Carr really wanted to protect her,” Elliot-Kugell continued.” And there was a sandwich that was found there.”
Carr came up with the choking story and asked Cameron to use it, she added, saying it was originally only meant to avoid speculation until full details were available – instead of becoming a long-believed myth. “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.”
Her memoir, My Mama, Cass, is published on May 7 via Hachette Books.
Read More: Cass Elliot Sandwich Myth Was Manager’s Invention, Says Daughter | https://ultimateclassicrock.com/cass-elliot-sandwich-myth-was-managers-invention-says-daughter/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
I saw Mamma Cass on an old Carol Burnett rerun last week.
Choking on a sandwich is way more embarrassing of a story for an overweight person, than dying of a heart attack, IMHO
THAT’S his idea of protecting her legacy?!
As if we don’t know about drug, rock n’roll stars and the 60s…
Makes you wonder what kind of manager he was.
If Mama Cass and Karen Carpenter had shared that sandwich, they might both be alive today.
Could have picked one of the Spinal Tap Drummer deaths:
John “Stumpy” Pepys (1964–1966) Died in a bizarre gardening accident, that the authorities said was “best left unsolved.”
Eric “Stumpy Joe” Childs (1966–1967) Choked on vomit of unknown origin, perhaps but not necessarily his own, because “you can’t really dust for vomit.”
Peter “James” Bond (1967–1977) Spontaneously combusted on stage during a jazz festival on the Isle of Lucy.
Mick Shrimpton (1977–1982) Exploded onstage.
Joe “Mama” Besser (1982) Claimed he “couldn’t take this 4/4 s...”; according to an MTV interview with Spinal Tap in November 1991, he disappeared along with the equipment during their Japanese tour. He is either dead or playing jazz.
Richard “Ric” Shrimpton (1982–1999) Allegedly sold his dialysis machine for drugs; presumed dead.
Sammy “Stumpy” Bateman (1999-2001) Died trying to jump over a tank full of sharks while on a tricycle in a freak show.
Scott “Skippy” Scuffleton (2001–2007) Fate unknown.
Chris “Poppa” Cadeau (2007–2008) Eaten by his pet python Cleopatra.
Six of one, half dozen of the other.
I believe the sandwich was considered a myth even back when the death was fresh, or at least shortly after.
“If Mama Cass and Karen Carpenter had shared that sandwich, they might both be alive today.”
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
POST OF THE DAY !!!!
Her first marriage was of convenience to keep a friend from being drafted. Her second marriage lasted only a few months. The father of her only child was only acknowledged after his death.
A tragic person with a beautiful voice. I can only imagine what drove her compulsion to gluttony with her own body.
-PJ
Huh. I always thought John Belushi was the one who propagated that “myth”!
If they allowed Karen to play the drums, she’d be alive today.
Probably the manager, probably with good reason, suspected that she had died of a drug overdose and came up with this before the autopsy was released to conceal the fact that she was a druggie of some sort. Not a great plan, as we see, because it gives some something to joke about.
Didn't the Mama's & the Papas survive on her Amex card?
It’s too late to influence her legacy or her reputation.
Everyone who enjoyed that kind of music back then has moved on. Besides, even as the kid I was then, I could presume that ‘choked on a sandwich’ was just another way of saying she died from the effects of either being as high as a kite or drunk as a skunk.
We had already seen the deaths of several members of “The 27 Club”, which refers to celebrities, mostly musicians who died at the age of 27.
Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones, Jim Morrison and other less famous ones.
Was the ham sandwich ever indicted?
Do they still have grand juries in the U.K.?
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