"Mama" Cass Elliot, best known as a member of The Mamas & The Papas, died choking on a ham sandwich.

According to the biography "Dream a Little Dream of Me", the first physician to examine Cass Elliot after her death unwittingly gave rise to this rumor when he stated to the press his impression, i.e., that it appeared to have been a simple case of asphyxia. Yes, there was a sandwich by Cass’s bed, but it was recorded by the police as having been untouched.

The official findings of the coroner’s inquest were that Cass Elliot died from “fatty myocardial degeneration due to obesity” (i.e., a heart attack brought about by fatty degeneration of the heart muscle fiber), and nothing was found to have been blocking her mouth or throat. The prolonged, combined effects of obesity and severe dieting had weakened her heart to the point of failure.

The legend has a particularly cruel irony in that Cass Elliot’s weight was fodder for many brutish jokes about her physical appearance, and the choking rumor fostered the impression that she had somehow brought death upon herself through her “gluttony.”