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 to the stage, making a disastrous start in John Phillips' "Man on the Moon" (1975). In 1977, he returned to his birthplace, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and started playing legitimate roles, including Shakespeare, at the Neptune Theatre under the tutelage of John Neville. This led to television work, beginning with a variety program, "Denny's Sho*", which ran for one season in 1978. He went on to host and voice parts in the children's program, "Theodore Tugboat", and to act in various series, including twenty-two episodes of the drama "Pit Pony". Doherty also performed with the New Mamas and the Papas (see