Russ Kunkel Kunkel had a cameo as doomed drummer Eric "Stumpy Joe" Childs in the 1984 film "This Is Spinal Tap". In 2010 Kunkel joined the Troubadour Reunion Tour supporting James Taylor and Carole King. In 1968, Kunkel married singer/songwriter Leah Cohen Kunkel, sister of Cass Elliot (born Ellen Naomi Cohen) of The Mamas and Papas. Following Elliot's death in 1974, Leah was given custody of Cass Elliot's daughter, Owen. The couple also raised their son, Nathaniel, an Emmy Award winning sound engineer. In 1990, Kunkel married singer Nicolette Larson ("Lotta Love"), and the two were married until her death in 1997.
The Mamas & the Papas in 1999. Doherty died of an abdominal aortic aneurysm at his home in Mississauga, Ontario, on January 19, 2007. He was survived by his three children, Jessica Woods, Emberly Doherty, and John Doherty. A documentary by Paul Ledoux, "Here I Am: Denny Doherty and the Mamas and the Papas", premiered at Halifax's Atlantic Film Festival in September 2009 and screened on the Bravo cable network as part of the Great Canadian Biographies series in February 2010. While Michelle Phillips' only solo album, "Victim of Romance" (1977), made little impact, she went on to build a successful career as an actress.