Mama Cass' daughter, Owen Elliot-Kugell, is setting the record straight about her mother's death.
"There was a ham sandwich, but she didn't eat it and she didn't choke on it. So enough with the jokes," she writes in her new memoir, My Mama, Cass.
As the 50th anniversary of Cass Elliot's untimely death approaches, Kugell is officially putting the myth that she died by choking on a ham sandwich to bed. BBC reports that she calls the rumors "beyond frustrating, almost immeasurable" after having to live with them over the past 50 years.
"Even as a little girl, when I was hanging out with my friends at school, they didn't know who my mom was, but 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?'"
The Mamas and the Papas singer died in 1974 at the age of 32. She had just played the London Palladium for two weeks as her first shows as a solo artist. Kugell, who was only seven at the time, was notified that her mother had died from a heart attack, without any drugs in her system. It occurred just after a 36-hour work day, which also included Mick Jagger's birthday party and a brunch thrown in her honor.
"By the time she got back to her flat, it was evening the following day," her daughter continues to describe. "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 says that the tragic loss of her mother being misconstrued with the ham sandwich story has had a great effect on her, constantly haunting her throughout her life.
"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."
The memoir reveals that journalist Sue Cameron later admitted to being the one who spread the story about the ham sandwich. Since so many singers had been dying due to drug overdoses at the time, Elliot's manager, Allan Carr, made up the story to squash any speculation that she had died from drug use.
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Elliot had struggled with obesity throughout her life. During her career, she took on massive feats like guest hosting the Tonight Show and making appearances on The Carol Burnett Show. However, most of the guest spots entailed the use of jokes that were targeted at her weight.
As she looks back on her mother's legacy, Kugell says that she broke the mold for heavier actresses to be accepted in show business.
"She paved the way for these other young ladies nowadays who are of a heavier stature to break through in the music business and be accepted for who they are. I really do believe that she helped lay the groundwork for a lot of people."
My Mama, Cass will be released on May 9.
