Cass Elliot was born Naomi Ellen Cohen on September 19th, 1941, in Baltimore, Maryland. She grew up in and around Washington, DC. In High School, she adopted the name Cass Elliot and became involved with music and performing.
Her family had planned on having Cass attend college, because she was a very smart young lady [I.Q. 165]. But Cass had other ideas, and in 1963 she joined a folk group called The Big Three. [She was married to bandmate Jim Hendricks from 1963-1968]
In 1965, Cass followed her other bandmate Denny Doherty to the Virgin Islands, where he was staying with his friends John and Michelle Phillips. The foursome soon became known as The Mamas And The Papas. From 1965 to 1968, the group enjoyed many top 10 singles and were later inducted into the hall of fame.
In 1971 Cass married Donald von Wiedenman and enjoyed a successful solo career, which was cut short by her death on July 29th, 1974, in London.
