By Craig Rosen | Yahoo Music
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Casey Kasem, the man behind one of the most famous voices on radio and television from the '70s through the 2000s, has died after a long battle with Parkinson's and dementia. He was 82.
Kasem was best known as the host of American Top 40, the weekly countdown show that he co-founded in 1970 and hosted from 1970 through 1989, when he was succeeded by Shadoe Stevens. At the time, Kasem left ABC Radio Networks for Westwood One to host a new version of his weekly show re-titled Casey's Top 40 With Casey Kasem for a deal worth $17 million over five years, making him one of the highest paid voices on radio. He returned to AT40 in 1998 through 2004, after which Ryan Seacrest took the helm. His signature sign-off, "Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars" became legendary. He also hosted several similar spin-off countdown shows, including the TV showAmerica's Top 10. After years of being one of the most popular and dependable voices in syndicated radio, he finally stepped away from the mic on July 4, 2009.
"When someone says, 'What do you do for a living?,' well, [I say] I'm not a radio personality," Kasem once told ABC News. "I am a disc jockey, and I play records.
I play music for people to hear from eight to 80."
Although radio was his first home, his voice was also heard frequently on television. He voiced the character Shaggy on the long-running cartoon franchise Scooby-Doo for four decades, finally retiring in 2009, but returned in 2010 to play Shaggy's father. His first stint as a voice actor was in 1968, as Robin, the Boy Wonder in the Batman cartoon series. He reprised the role of Robin on SuperFriends from 1973-1985 and also appeared on several other cartoons, as well as a voiceover specialist on TV commercials from a wide variety of companies ranging from Chevron and Raid to Oscar Mayer and Dairy Queen.
In addition, he appeared in cameos on several TV shows and movies over the years, including Hawaii Five-O, Saved by the Bell, Quincy, ALF, Charlie's Angels and Ghostbusters.
He was born Kemal Amin Kasem on April 27, 1932, in Detroit to Lebanese Druse parents, who had immigrated from Palestine to Lebanon before settling in Detroit. He attended Wayne State University and began his radio career in the early '50s after he was drafted and sent to Korea, he ended up as a DJ on the Armed Forces Radio Korea Network. From there, he landed several radio jobs, first in Flint, Michigan, and later in San Francisco and Oakland, California; Buffalo, New York, and Los Angeles, where he was a regular on KRLA for nine years before launching American Top 40.
Even after Kasem retired, his voice was still heard on radio, as Sirius Satellite Radio and Premiere Radio Networks began airing taped episodes of the show from the '70s and '80s.
His final years were somewhat tragic. He struggled with the effects of Parkinson's disease, while his second wife, actress 59-year-old Jean Kasem, publicly feuded with his three adult children, including radio personality Kerri Kasem, over visitation rights with their ailing father.
In May, the situation came to a head when Kerri Kasem reported that the radio legend had gone missing. He was later located in Washington state. In late May, a judge awarded Kerri visitation rights to see her father for the first time after Jean Kasem had taken him out of a Santa Monica, Calif., care facility and had him moved to Washington, without informing his adult children from his first marriage.
The judge also ruled that 41-year-old Kerri Kasem could take her father to be checked out by a doctor and hospitalized if needed. In a court hearing at the time, Kerri Kasem said that a physician hired by Jean Kasem said that the elder Kasem was suffering from lung and bladder infections and had bed sores.
The situation took an ugly turn on June 1, when Kerri Kasem arrived at her father's home with an ambulance to transport him to the hospital, but the ambulance attendants were not initially allowed inside. After someone inside the house called 911, a fire truck and a second ambulance arrived on the scene. Then, the situation took a bizarre turn when Jean Kasem came out of the home and reportedly hurled a pound of raw hamburger meat at Kerri Kasem, according to reports.
After paramedics were finally allowed in to take the elder Kasem to the hospital, Jean Kasem claimed she was following a Bible version when she tossed the uncooked meat at her stepdaughter.
"In the name of King David, I threw a piece of raw meat into the street in exchange for my husband to the wild rabid dogs," she told NBC News.
On a happier note, when Kasem stepped down from American Top 40, he offered a bit of the "keep reaching for the stars" optimism that he shared with his listeners each week. "Rather than feeling sad about leaving American Top 40, I feel that there is a challenge ahead of me," he said in 2004. "I am happy doing what I am going to be doing, and I am happy having done what I did."
Person of the Week: Casey Kasem
His face may not be as recognizable, but there's no mistaking his voice. This weekend, after 34 years on the radio airwaves, Casey Kasem will make his final countdown for American Top 40.
Kasem's last show as host of American Top 40 will run on Saturday and Sunday. Since 1970, his voice, countdown formats and dedications have been his trademarks for hundreds of radio stations and millions of listeners.
"When someone says, 'What do you do for a living?,' well, [I say] I'm not a radio personality," Kasem told ABCNEWS. "I am a disc jockey, and I play records. I play music for people to hear from 8 to 80."
The Dick Clark of Radio
Kasem's pioneering influence on radio is comparable to Dick Clark's on TV and pop music.
He originated today's music countdown format, which includes, in addition to the songs, biographical details and tidbits about the artists. That format began somewhat by accident when Kasem was a DJ in Oakland, Calif., in 1962 and the station manager wanted him to change his format from improvised, wild-track comedy characters and sketches that were the staple on radio at the time.
"Wedged in the door of the studio was a big trash barrel, and on top of all of it was Who's Who in Pop Music," Kasem said. "I looked at those little thumb nail sketches, and I was on my way to do what I am doing today, counting them down."
Kasem didn't always want to be a disc jockey. Born Kemal Amin Kasem in Detroit to Lebanese immigrant parents, he originally wanted to be a baseball player and an actor. But Kasem seemed to gravitate toward radio, starting his own radio sports show in high school.
While majoring in speech education at Wayne State University in Detroit, he landed acting roles on national radio shows such as The Lone Ranger and Sergeant Preston of the Yukon. While serving in the military in Korea, he acted in radio drama for the Armed Services Network.
Working ‘Retirement’
After his military service ended, Kasem became a full-time disc jockey and worked in stations in Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, N.Y., Oakland and ultimately, Los Angeles. Besides his countdown format, listeners have known Kasem for his trademark phrase, "Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars," and his long-distance dedications. And Kasem says he has always has taken his dedications very seriously.
"You are a bit of a voyeur. You are hearing something that someone else is experiencing," Kasem said. "When I do the letters, sometimes it takes me three, four, five times to read them until we get it exactly right. Every letter has its own feel, and none of them are just by rote."
Kasem, 71, will not be retiring entirely. He will continue to be the voice of Shaggy, Scooby-Doo's sidekick, a job he has had since the TV cartoon began in 1969. As DJ and American Idol host Ryan Seacrest, 28, takes over American Top 40, Kasem will also be the host of American Top 20 for Premiere Radio Networks.
"Rather than feeling sad about leaving American Top 40, I feel that there is a challenge ahead of me," Kasem said. "I am happy doing what I am going to be doing, and I am happy having done what I did."
It sounds like Kasem is continuing to keep his feet on the ground and reach for the stars.
And so Casey Kasem is World News Tonight's Person of the Week.
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