Diet and death of a bright star - Mama Cass

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jackn
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Diet and death of a bright star - Mama Cass

Post by jackn » Sun May 15, 2016 2:43 pm

From the blurb of a biography:
'The greatest white female singer ever' was how Boy George described pop icon Cass Elliot, also known as Mama Cass, the sixties diva who became the recognisable face of the Mamas and Papas...
Cass's uniquely emotive voice, charismatic wit and outsized multi-coloured kaftans singled her out as a popstar who refused to conform to traditional female stereotypes. When she left the group her popularity was such that she immediately... became the queen of Los Angeles society. Her Beverley Hills villa was the scene of legendary parties, becoming second home to Jack Nicholson, Ryan O'Neal, Grace Slick and David Crosby.
But there was a darker side to her fame - having been constantly on a diet and battling drug addiction for years, she died mysteriously in London at the age of 33.
From wikipedia:
In October 1968, Elliot made her live solo debut headlining in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace, scheduled for a three-week engagement at $40,000 per week, with two shows per night.
Elliot went on a six-month long crash diet before the show, losing 100 of her 300 pounds. According to Elliot, the weight loss led to a stomach ulcer and throat problems, which she treated by drinking milk and cream (and regaining 50 pounds in the process).
A nervous Elliot was confined to her bed for three weeks before the first performance... she was losing her voice.
An audience of 950 people filled the Circus Maximus theatre at Caesars Palace on the evening of Wednesday October 16, including Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, and Jimi Hendrix.
Joan Baez, Liza Minnelli, and Mia Farrow had sent flowers to Elliot's dressing room. But backstage, a shivering Elliot had developed a raging fever. Friends urged her manager to cancel the show, but she felt it was too important and insisted on performing. Sick and having barely rehearsed, Elliot began to fall apart during the course of her first performance: her voice was weak and barely audible, and the large crowd was unsympathetic, despite the celebrity well-wishers.
At the end of the show, Elliot returned to the stage to apologize to the audience, stating, "This is the first night, and it will get better". She then sang "Dream a Little Dream of Me" and left the stage as the audience applauded half-heartedly. She returned later that night to perform the second show, but her voice was worse, and many of the audience noisily walked out.
Reviews were harsh. Esquire magazine called the show "a disaster" that was "heroic in proportion, epic in scope." The Los Angeles Free Press called the show "an embarrassing drag." Newsweek compared the show to the Titanic disaster: "Like some great ocean liner embarking on an ill-fated maiden voyage, Mama Cass slid down the ways and sank to the bottom." The show closed after only one night...
Eddi Fiegel wrote in the biography Dream a Little Dream of Me that Elliot later admitted to a boyfriend that she had shot heroin immediately before going on stage. Embarrassed by the debacle, Elliot plunged into a deep depression...
Elliot performed two weeks of concerts at the London Palladium later that summer, at the height of her solo career. Many claimed that all of these shows sold out, but she was often playing to a less than full house after the earliest dates. She called Michelle Phillips after the final concert on July 28, elated that she had received standing ovations each night. She then retired for the evening and died in her sleep, at age 32, 2 months before her 33rd birthday. Sources said that her death was due to a heart attack.
An oft-repeated urban legend claims that Elliot choked to death on a ham sandwich. The story spread soon after the discovery of her body and was based on speculation in the initial media coverage. An autopsy had not yet been performed, but police told reporters that a partially eaten sandwich found in her room might have been to blame. The post-mortem examination found that Elliot had died of a heart attack, and no food was found in her windpipe, yet the false story has persisted for decades.
At meals only eat.
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