Ellen Naomi Cohen was born in 1941. Ellen lived with her parents—her father was an entrepreneur, and her mother was a nurse—in Virginia and later Baltimore, Maryland. Her grandparents were European Jewish immigrants who came to America in search of a better life. When she was seven years old, Ellen’s parents sent her to live with her grandparents while Ellen’s mother gave birth to Ellen’s little sister. Ellen said later that this “aroused some insecurities in me.” Ellen felt as if her parents had abandoned her in favor of the new baby. Ellen calmed herself by overeating. Ellen moved back in with her parents soon after the baby was born, but the insecurities remained. By the time she became a teenager, she weighed approximately 180 pounds, almost double the weight of the other kids in her class. Her weight became the subject of many cruel jokes by her classmates, which fueled her insecurities. She ate to calm her anxieties about her weight. Ellen was trapped in a vicious cycle. Ellen’s parents recognized the problem and took her to a doctor. The doctor put her on diet pills which were amphetamines. At the time, amphetamine pills were prescribed to combat “mental and emotional distress” and as a “weight-loss remedy striking at the emotional causes of overeating.” The amphetamine pills contained a potent stimulant and were highly addictive. Upon taking one of the pills the user felt a sudden “flash” of joy abusers nicknamed a “rush.” Inhibitions were lowered. The user felt more self-confident, had more energy, was more social, and felt that they were thinking more clearly. Ellen was a part of America’s first amphetamine epidemic.
In the 1950s and 1960s, doctors prescribed amphetamine pills without restraint. Pharmaceutical companies gave kickbacks to doctors who prescribed their amphetamine pills. Doctors had not yet learned the side effects of amphetamines such as high body temperature, memory loss, stroke, heart problems, and possible damage to young, developing brains. Amphetamines quickly became a recreational drug.
Despite the amphetamine pills, Ellen continued to be a big girl. Rather than becoming angry when classmates made jokes about her weight, she eased the burden by making the jokes herself which were more clever than what her classmates could come up with. That way, they were laughing with her and not at her. Later in her teenage years, Ellen shocked her parents when she explained that she wanted to be a Broadway singer. Ellen joked that she would be “the most famous fat girl that ever lived.” Her horrified parents failed to see the humor in her claim. Finally, they made an agreement that if Ellen failed to make it as a singer with five years she would go to college. Ellen moved to New York to begin her Broadway career.
Ellen’s auditions were promising. In 1962, she was almost cast as Miss Marmelstein in the Broadway musical “I Can Get It for You Wholesale,” but she ultimately lost the part to Barbra Streisand. It was Barbra Streisand’s big break. While waiting for her big break, Ellen rehearsed constantly. She knew that she had to perfect her sense of pitch. Ellen joined a trio called the Mugwumps, but the trio was short-lived. Ellen wanted to join a trio called the New Journeymen while she awaited her big break, but the trio’s leader refused because “she was too fat.” Undeterred, Ellen used many ploys to persuade the trio into becoming a quartet including introducing them to LSD. Finally, Ellen was allowed to join.
In September 1965, the quartet released their first album. By December of the same year, they were stars. Four albums and four years later, the quartet disbanded. Ellen had a successful solo career and became a successful TV personality. Despite all of her accomplishments, the fat jokes continued. In 1973, Ellen was a guest on The Dean Martin Show and during her introduction Dean Martin said, “I wouldn’t say she’s fat, but from the front she looks like Carroll O’Connor from the back.” The fat jokes were hurtful to Ellen, but she usually smiled and played along. She still struggled with the vicious cycle of eating to help with her insecurities and taking medicines to help her lose weight.
Ellen’s health was declining. In a period of seven months in 1974, Ellen was hospitalized five times for shortness of breath and loss of consciousness. Despite her worsening health, she began a world tour. On the evening of July 28, 1974, after an all-night birthday party for Mick Jagger in London which lasted late into the following day, Ellen finally returned to her rented apartment and went to bed. In the early hours of the following morning, July 29, 1974, Ellen had a fatal heart attack in her sleep. An autopsy revealed that she had no drugs in her system when she died.
Most of the world never heard of the death of 32-year-old Ellen Naomi Cohen. That name was meaningless to everyone but Ellen’s family and childhood friends. Ellen developed her own stage name. She based her first name on the nickname her father had given her, Cassandra, and the last name in honor of a friend who had died. While few know the name Ellen Naomi Cohen, people around the world know Cass Elliot or Mama Cass, member of the New Journeymen quartet who changed their name to The Mamas and the Papas.
For half a century, people have repeated the false story that Ellen died from choking on a ham sandwich. According to Ellen’s daughter, a friend of Ellen’s who was staying with Ellen at the rented apartment had made her a sandwich and left it next to her bed. Ellen’s manager, Allan Carr, created the choking story because he knew people would assume that she had died from a drug overdose just as Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin had done. Ellen’s manager never expected his false story to turn into a macabre joke. He was trying to protect her.
Sources:
1. Hadley Freeman, “The secret life of Mama Cass – by the daughter she left behind,” The Sunday Times, May 5, 2024, accessed September 8, 2024. https://www.thetimes.com/
2. Erin Blakemore, “A Speedy History of America’s Addiction to Amphetamine,” Smithsonian Magazine, October 27, 2017, accessed September 8, 2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.
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