Cass Elliot was born Ellen Naomi Cohen on September 19, 1941 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Which means she and I share the same birthday except I was born about 23 years later :) ) In 1963 Cass met up with Tim Rose and John Brown and formed a folk trio initially dubbed The Triumvirate, but later known as The Big Three. They made appearances on The Tonight Show, Hootenanny and the Danny Kaye Show. In 1964 the group had begun to fall apart and it metamorphasized into a foursome called "Cass Elliot and The Big Three" which included Denny Doherty. They became The Mugwumps. They released a single for Warner Brothers and were together through the end of 1964. At this time, Cass Elliot began to work solo. Denny Doherty had joined John and Michelle Phillips and the three were performing as The New Journeymen. Soon they left for the Virgin Islands where Cass joined them and The Mamas and The Papas was born. Rumours abound but the collective decision seems to be that Cass was in love with Denny who had an affair with Michelle who was married to John. Surely this had to be a major reason why the group broke up in 1968 and they all went on to pursue their own thing. "Dream a little Dream of Me" became Cass' theme song and remains one of my all time favorite songs.In 1970, she also appeared in the film version of "Pufnstuf" and recorded an album with rock star Dave Mason. Cass had two prime time television specials of her own in 1969 and 1973 and scores of television appearances throughout the early 1970's with Mike Douglas, Julie Andrews, Andy Williams, Johnny Cash, Red Skelton, Ed Sullivan, Tom Jones and Carol Burnett . She guest hosted The Tonight Show, had successful stints in Las Vegas and continued to record for RCA during these years too. Cass had one daughter Owen Vanessa in April 1967. She was married twice, first (1963-68) to fellow Big Three and Mugwumps member Jim Hendricks and second to Baron Donald von Wiedenman (1971). In 1974, Cass Elliot travelled to London where she had a two week engagement at the London Palladium. After performing to sellout audiences and basking in repeated ovations, she apparently had a massive heart attack and died. In 1998, the Mama's and Papa's were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Cass Elliot's daughter, Owen, was there and accepted on behalf of her mother. Cass Elliot is buried in Mount Sinai Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California.