Four years ago, she hit the American scene in her size 50 muumuu, resembling a Hudson Hornet draped in one of Omar's tents. But look what's happened to Mama Cass Elliott. After almost two years of dieting, she has shed better than 120 Ibs., down from 290 to a mere 164. It was expensive, though—"about $2,000 a pound," said Cass, explaining that her regimen (four days of complete fasting per week) finally put her in the hospital and forced her to cancel $250,000 worth of bookings. "The Mama Cass diet can give you acute tonsillitis, hemorrhaging vocal cords, mononucleosis and a case of hepatitis," she said. And now? "Lose 55 more pounds—then ask Oscar de La Renta to design an entire wardrobe."
No one has ever accused Britain's Prince Philip of reticence. Yet rarely has he ranged as widely and acidly as in an interview with The Director, a London business magazine. On his countrymen's work habits: "The number of people who are actively constructive are minimal compared to the numbers who are just sitting there." On governmental controls: "People will soon need a license to breathe. I know that in Scotland we had to get permission to block up a fireplace in a cottage. It's unbelievable!"
They were on a plane returning from Australia, and he tossed a crumpled note asking who she was. So she tossed one back asking who he was, and he lobbed another, saying, "Mr. Williams, fisherman." That was five years ago, and today beautiful Dolores Williams, onetime Vogue model, can match her husband cast for cast ("Sometimes I'm even better than he is"). Except that there won't be so much fishing from now on. Ted Williams, 50, baseball's terrible-tempered but altogether "Splendid Splinter" of the 1940s and '50s, is back in the game as manager of the Washington Senators—and that is just fine with Dolores. "It's about time he learned to get along with people," she said. "He's up and down like the weather."
There was the usual run of Irish jokes and Polish jokes and Jewish jokes. But the star of the annual Circus Saints and Sinners show was a tall guy with a lopsided grin who told a few on himself. "In case you have forgotten, I'm the man who wound up a little more than 300,000 heartbeats from the presidency," quipped Senator Edmund Mus-Icie, the guest of honor. However, he pointed out, "There's only one thing lower than a defeated candidate for Vice President—and that's a successful one." Besides, "I have some reason to believe I can get an honorary degree from Macalester College."