Leah Kunkel Leah Kunkel Leah Kunkel (born June 15, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter and entertainment law attorney. Leah Kunkel was born Leah Cohen on June 15, 1948 in Baltimore, Maryland. She is the younger sister of Cass Elliot from the folk rock vocal group The Mamas & the Papas. In 1968 she married American drummer and music producer Russ Kunkel. Following her sister's death in 1974, Kunkel was given custody of Cass Elliot's daughter, Owen. The couple also raised their son, Nathaniel, an Emmy Award winning sound engineer. After being signed to Dunhill records, Kunkel recorded her first record "Billy"
The Mamas & the Papas cartoon". In 1998 the lineup was Phillips, Scott McKenzie, Chrissy Faith, David Baker and Janelle Sadler. After Phillips and McKenzie retired permanently from touring, another singer, Mark Williamson, was brought in. Phillips wanted the New Mamas and the Papas to make an album, "but I just couldn't bring myself to commit to it". Varèse Sarabande released the 1981 demos with other material as "Many Mamas, Many Papas" in 2010. Beyond that, the band is represented on record only by live albums of uncertain provenance, including "The Mamas and the Papas Reunion Live" (1987) featuring the Phillips-Doherty-Phillips-McFarlane line-up and released by