Casey Kasem Dead at 82
- Thread starter IdRatherBeSkiing
- Start date
WOW!! RIP Casey...
Casey Kasem as Shaggy - MDA Telethon Plea - YouTube
Personally, I am starting to feel older and older with the deaths of these idols...
Shaggy
Casey Kasem as Shaggy - MDA Telethon Plea - YouTube
Personally, I am starting to feel older and older with the deaths of these idols...
Shaggy
This passing ranks up there with the passing of Wolfman Jack several years ago
The talent pool in the world is getting smaller with the great ones leaving from all
fields of entertainment
RIP Casey you touched the world with memories
The talent pool in the world is getting smaller with the great ones leaving from all
fields of entertainment
RIP Casey you touched the world with memories
I always looked forward to his radio shows every week. He was a great presenter. Years later he became a spokesman for Americans of Middle Eastern origin who were subjected to stereotypes and other forms of public distrust. Great guy, indeed.
I'll miss ol Shaggy.
RIP CASEY
I'll remember you every time they play your countdown on Sirius
24 hour marathon on SXM 7 now.
Not to be rude, but I didn't even know he was still alive. I haven't heard boo from him or about him in years.
You missed the legal drama a couple weeks ago?
His last countdown was in 2009. He stopped doing AT40 in 1988.
his wife sure looks well endowed - after the fortune he left her I bet that endowment is even better, now
Top 40 deejay Casey Kasem dead at 82
Reuters
First posted: Sunday, June 15, 2014 10:39 AM EDT | Updated: Sunday, June 15, 2014 12:38 PM EDT
WASHINGTON - Casey Kasem, the U.S. radio personality who counted down pop music hits on his popular weekly radio show and also lent his distinctive voice to hippie sleuth Shaggy in the "Scooby Doo" cartoons, died on Sunday. He was 82.
"Early this Father's Day morning, our dad Casey Kasem passed away surrounded by family and friends," his daughter, Kerri Kasem, said in a statement posted online. "Even though we know he is in a better place and no longer suffering, we are heartbroken."
Kasem, whose final years were marked by dementia, had been the focus of a dispute between his three children from his first marriage and his second wife, Jean Kasem, who they said had prevented them from visiting as he suffered from Lewy body dementia, a malady with symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease.
As his health deteriorated, a Los Angeles judge sided with the adult children and permitted them to withhold food, hydration and his usual medication as they choose comfort-oriented, end-of-life care at a Washington state hospital.
'REACHING FOR THE STARS'
"Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars," Kasem, a Detroit-born Lebanese-American, told millions of listeners at the end of his invariably cheery weekly radio program, which ran from 1970 to 2009.
On his syndicated show, Kasem counted down the 40 most popular songs of the week in order, finishing with the No. 1 song. Before each song, Kasem told an upbeat anecdote about the singer's road to success and read letters from listeners.
Listen to Kasem's last show below.
At its peak, Kasem's show was heard on more than 1,000 stations in about 50 countries. "I accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative. That is the timeless thing," Kasem told the New York Times in 1990.
There was an immediate outpouring on Twitter from both fans and celebrities: "We've lost a music industry icon. Chngd the industry w/AT40 Cntdwn. RIP Casey Kasem," said singer and actress Marie Osmond.
Motley Crue base player Nikki Sixx said, "RIP Casey Kasem who inspired all of us in radio & turned millions of people onto music. Sending love to Kerri Kasem, family and friends."
'GUY NEXT DOOR'
Kasem was famed for his unmistakable tenor voice - also heard on thousands of commercials and television announcements.
"It's a natural quality of huskiness in the midrange of my voice that I call 'garbage,'" he told the Times. "It's not a clear-toned announcer's voice. It's more like the voice of the guy next door."
For four decades starting in 1969, he provided the voice of Shaggy - the perpetually hungry, easily frightened, mystery-solving human pal of a Great Dane in the TV cartoon series "Scooby Doo, Where Are You!" and its various other incarnations.
"Zoinks! C'mon, Scoob!" Kasem's Shaggy would exclaim as a mummy, zombie, snow beast or swamp monster would chase him, Scooby and fellow youthful sleuths Fred, Velma and Daphne.
He was born in Detroit as Kemal Amin Kasem on April 27, 1932, the son of a Lebanese Druze grocer. He gained broadcast experience covering sports for his high school's radio club.
The diminutive Kasem - 5 feet, 6 1/2 inches tall (1.68 meters) - was drafted to serve in the U.S. military in 1952 and was sent to the Korean War, working as a disc jockey on U.S. armed forces radio.
In 1970, along with childhood friend Don Bustany, Kasem came up with the idea of a radio show counting down the top pop hits of the week based on the earlier successful "Your Hit Parade" program. His show debuted on July 4, 1970, as "American Top 40".
Kasem had three children with his first wife, Linda Myers, before divorcing in 1979. Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson officiated when he married his second wife, actress Jean Kasem, in 1980. They had one child. (Additional reporting by Victoria Cavaliere in New York; Writing by Scott Malone; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and Stephen Powell)
Top 40 deejay Casey Kasem dead at 82 | Celebrities | Entertainment | Toronto Sun
Reuters
First posted: Sunday, June 15, 2014 10:39 AM EDT | Updated: Sunday, June 15, 2014 12:38 PM EDT
WASHINGTON - Casey Kasem, the U.S. radio personality who counted down pop music hits on his popular weekly radio show and also lent his distinctive voice to hippie sleuth Shaggy in the "Scooby Doo" cartoons, died on Sunday. He was 82.
"Early this Father's Day morning, our dad Casey Kasem passed away surrounded by family and friends," his daughter, Kerri Kasem, said in a statement posted online. "Even though we know he is in a better place and no longer suffering, we are heartbroken."
Kasem, whose final years were marked by dementia, had been the focus of a dispute between his three children from his first marriage and his second wife, Jean Kasem, who they said had prevented them from visiting as he suffered from Lewy body dementia, a malady with symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease.
As his health deteriorated, a Los Angeles judge sided with the adult children and permitted them to withhold food, hydration and his usual medication as they choose comfort-oriented, end-of-life care at a Washington state hospital.
'REACHING FOR THE STARS'
"Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars," Kasem, a Detroit-born Lebanese-American, told millions of listeners at the end of his invariably cheery weekly radio program, which ran from 1970 to 2009.
On his syndicated show, Kasem counted down the 40 most popular songs of the week in order, finishing with the No. 1 song. Before each song, Kasem told an upbeat anecdote about the singer's road to success and read letters from listeners.
Listen to Kasem's last show below.
At its peak, Kasem's show was heard on more than 1,000 stations in about 50 countries. "I accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative. That is the timeless thing," Kasem told the New York Times in 1990.
There was an immediate outpouring on Twitter from both fans and celebrities: "We've lost a music industry icon. Chngd the industry w/AT40 Cntdwn. RIP Casey Kasem," said singer and actress Marie Osmond.
Motley Crue base player Nikki Sixx said, "RIP Casey Kasem who inspired all of us in radio & turned millions of people onto music. Sending love to Kerri Kasem, family and friends."
'GUY NEXT DOOR'
Kasem was famed for his unmistakable tenor voice - also heard on thousands of commercials and television announcements.
"It's a natural quality of huskiness in the midrange of my voice that I call 'garbage,'" he told the Times. "It's not a clear-toned announcer's voice. It's more like the voice of the guy next door."
For four decades starting in 1969, he provided the voice of Shaggy - the perpetually hungry, easily frightened, mystery-solving human pal of a Great Dane in the TV cartoon series "Scooby Doo, Where Are You!" and its various other incarnations.
"Zoinks! C'mon, Scoob!" Kasem's Shaggy would exclaim as a mummy, zombie, snow beast or swamp monster would chase him, Scooby and fellow youthful sleuths Fred, Velma and Daphne.
He was born in Detroit as Kemal Amin Kasem on April 27, 1932, the son of a Lebanese Druze grocer. He gained broadcast experience covering sports for his high school's radio club.
The diminutive Kasem - 5 feet, 6 1/2 inches tall (1.68 meters) - was drafted to serve in the U.S. military in 1952 and was sent to the Korean War, working as a disc jockey on U.S. armed forces radio.
In 1970, along with childhood friend Don Bustany, Kasem came up with the idea of a radio show counting down the top pop hits of the week based on the earlier successful "Your Hit Parade" program. His show debuted on July 4, 1970, as "American Top 40".
Kasem had three children with his first wife, Linda Myers, before divorcing in 1979. Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson officiated when he married his second wife, actress Jean Kasem, in 1980. They had one child. (Additional reporting by Victoria Cavaliere in New York; Writing by Scott Malone; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and Stephen Powell)
Top 40 deejay Casey Kasem dead at 82 | Celebrities | Entertainment | Toronto Sun
A spokesman for Casey Kasem's daughter says the famous radio host's unburied body remains at a funeral home in Tacoma, Washington, a month after his death.
Danny Deraney, publicist for Kerri Kasem, says Kasem's children from his first marriage hope he will be buried at Forest Lawn cemetery in Glendale, California, as he wished.
Kasem died June 15 at a hospital in Washington state. Deraney says the celebrity's second wife, Jean Kasem, has the rights to his body but has not yet arranged for him to be buried.
Hospital spokesman Scott Thompson with St. Anthony Hospital says Kasem's wife collected his remains from the hospital after he died, but Thompson did not know what arrangements she made.
A call to Jean Kasem's attorney was not immediately returned Tuesday.
Daughter's rep: Casey Kasem's body still unburied | Local & Regional | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO News
Danny Deraney, publicist for Kerri Kasem, says Kasem's children from his first marriage hope he will be buried at Forest Lawn cemetery in Glendale, California, as he wished.
Kasem died June 15 at a hospital in Washington state. Deraney says the celebrity's second wife, Jean Kasem, has the rights to his body but has not yet arranged for him to be buried.
Hospital spokesman Scott Thompson with St. Anthony Hospital says Kasem's wife collected his remains from the hospital after he died, but Thompson did not know what arrangements she made.
A call to Jean Kasem's attorney was not immediately returned Tuesday.
Daughter's rep: Casey Kasem's body still unburied | Local & Regional | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO News
Casey Kasem's body was flown from the funeral home in Tacoma, Washington to a funeral home in Montreal, Canada on July 14, two days before a judge ordered Casey's widow Jean Kasem to keep the body in Tacoma for an autopsy.
But mysteriously, Casey's body never arrived.
A representative for Kerri Kasem, Casey's daughter, has confirmed that her father's body is missing.
MailOnline has learned that Casey's body was put on a plane by staff at the Gaffney Funeral Home in Tacoma on July 14 and shipped to Urgel Bourgie Funeral Homes in Montreal. But staff at the Canadian funeral parlor say they have no record for any arrangements for the arrival of Kasem's body under his name, his birth name Kemal Amen Kasem or his wife Jean's name.
more
Casey Kasem's body was put on a plane and flown from Tacoma to Montreal before it mysteriously went 'MISSING,' after his daughter asked for an autopsy | Mail Online
But mysteriously, Casey's body never arrived.
A representative for Kerri Kasem, Casey's daughter, has confirmed that her father's body is missing.
MailOnline has learned that Casey's body was put on a plane by staff at the Gaffney Funeral Home in Tacoma on July 14 and shipped to Urgel Bourgie Funeral Homes in Montreal. But staff at the Canadian funeral parlor say they have no record for any arrangements for the arrival of Kasem's body under his name, his birth name Kemal Amen Kasem or his wife Jean's name.
more
Casey Kasem's body was put on a plane and flown from Tacoma to Montreal before it mysteriously went 'MISSING,' after his daughter asked for an autopsy | Mail Online