Mama Cass’ daughter said she first met her dad as a teenager after Michelle Phillips helped her find him – and admitted she was disappointed in her ‘alcoholic’ dad for not reaching out to her sooner.
When The Mamas & The Papas singer Cass Elliot welcomed her daughter Owen Elliot-Kugell in 1967, she made a point of not sharing her father’s identity with anyone — including Owen.
It wasn’t until she was a teenager – years after Cass tragically died of a heart attack – that Owen discovered her father was musician Charles Wayne Day, all thanks to her mother’s former bandmate, Michelle.
Now she has opened up about how she and Michelle worked together to find Charles exclusively on DailyMail.com.
Mama Cass’s daughter Owen Elliot-Kugell (seen in 2022) has opened up about meeting her father for the first time as a teenager after Michelle Phillips helped her find him
When The Mamas & The Papas singer Cass Elliot welcomed her daughter Owen (seen together) in 1967, she made a point not to share her father’s identity with anyone.
It wasn’t until she was a teenager that Owen discovered her father was musician Charles Wayne Day, all thanks to her mother’s former bandmate, Michelle. Owen is seen as a baby with her mother
She also talked about what it was like to get to know him after more than a decade of “constantly wondering” and longing for him to “show up on a white stallion” and save her.
Owen, 57, explained that she had just celebrated her 19th birthday when she received a call from former The Mamas & The Papas member Denny Doherty, who invited her to dinner with him and her mother’s other ex-bandmates, Michelle and John Phillips. – and the subject came up on the drive home.
“On the way home, Michelle told me that she, John, and Denny had driven to the restaurant together and she had made an offhand comment along the lines of, ‘Gosh, we never found out who Owen’s dad was,’ and John and Denny shot each other. each other a look. A look that said, ‘Oh, don’t you know?'” Owen shone.
“They actually knew his name. Now we had a name. I asked Michelle, “Will you help me find him?” And she said she would.”
Owen explained that Charles had briefly played bass with The Mamas & The Papas in 1966, months before she was born.
She theorized that her mother kept his identity a secret from her because she “didn’t want him or need him.”
‘She had decided she really wanted a baby, but she didn’t want a husband. She didn’t feel like she needed one. She was a very progressive feminist woman,” Owen said.
She also admitted that she “constantly wondered” about him growing up, adding: “One of my fantasies was that one day he would appear on a white stallion.” I had this whole thing in my head.”
Now she has opened up about how she and Michelle worked together to find Charles exclusively on DailyMail.com. Cass is seen with Michelle and their other bandmates in 1959
As to why her mother (seen in 1966) kept his identity a secret, Owen said: ‘She had decided she really wanted a baby, but she didn’t want a husband. She didn’t feel like she needed one.”
She admitted that she “constantly wondered” about him, adding: “One of my fantasies was that one day he would appear on a white stallion.” Owen is seen as a baby with her mother
It took about a year for Michelle and Owen to track down her father, and once they did, Michelle bought Owen a plane ticket so she could fly and meet him. But their first interaction wasn’t exactly what she expected.
“It was weird,” she admitted. ‘When I looked at him, I recognized my nose. It was almost like my DNA went off and I just knew, “I came from him.”
‘It’s really bizarre, but you just know. I felt this connection, but I didn’t really want to, I felt really overwhelmed by it.’
She also learned that her father had known about her for years, and was disappointed that he had not contacted her.
“It turns out my mom had a moment of guilt when I was three or something, and she called him and told him he was my dad,” she revealed.
‘He came to me, but promised my mother he wouldn’t tell me he was my father. I also found out that he came to her funeral, but stayed across the street and couldn’t bring himself to come over.
‘I was so angry when I found out because I spent so much time on him. If only he had some balls…
It took about a year for Michelle and Owen to track down her father. Owen is seen with Michelle and her daughters in 2022
“It was weird,” Owen (seen with Chynna Phillips) admitted about their meeting. ‘It was almost like my DNA went off and I just knew, ‘I came from him.’ I felt really overwhelmed by it.”
Charles worked with Johnny Rivers for years before joining The Mamas & the Papas – and was even credited with creating the opening guitar gap in his song Secret Agent Man.
Owen added that he was “a pretty serious alcoholic” by the time they met, which was “a bit of a turnoff.”
Owen recently released a new memoir, titled My Mama, Cass, and she told DailyMail.com that she made sure she got Michelle’s “seal of approval” on the tome.
Additionally, she said that after she contacted him, he “started talking to the media and told them he had a child with Mama Cass,” which she “didn’t appreciate.”
“I wasn’t ready for that,” she said.
Charles died in 2008, and Owen said she was eventually able to have “closure with him” before his passing.
“I went to him before he died and showed him pictures of my children,” she explained.
“I made photocopies and let him keep them because I knew he would never meet them. So at least he got to see them.”
Owen recently released a new memoir, titled My Mama, Cass, and she told DailyMail.com that she made sure Michelle’s “seal of approval” was on the tome.
‘She is an important part of my life and I adore her. She’s someone I lean on for advice,” Owen shared.
“Having her seal of approval on this book was probably one of the few things that mattered.
‘She said she was crying [when she read it], and I thought, “This is so cool.” What a wonderful experience.’