Casey Kasem

Kemal Amen "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, music historian, radio personality, voice actor, and actor, known for being the host of several music radio countdown programs, most notably American Top 40, from 1970 until his retirement in 2009, and for providing the voice of Norville "Shaggy" Rogers in the Scooby-Doo franchise from 1969 to 1997, and again from 2002 until 2009.
Kasem co-founded the American Top 40 franchise in 1970, hosting it from its inception to 1988, and again from 1998 to 2004. Between January 1989 and early 1998, he was the host of Casey's Top 40, Casey's Hot 20, and Casey's Countdown. From 1998 to 2009, Kasem also hosted two adult contemporary spin-offs of American Top 40: American Top 20 and American Top 10.
In addition to his radio shows, Kasem provided the voice of many commercials, performed many voices for Sesame Street, provided the character voice of Peter Cottontail in the Rankin/Bass production of Here Comes Peter Cottontail, was "the voice of NBC", and helped out with the annual Jerry Lewis telethon. He provided the cartoon voices of Robin in Super Friends, Mark on Battle of the Planets, and a number of characters for the Transformers cartoon series of the 1980s. In 2008, he was the voice of Out of Sight Retro Night which aired on WGN America, but was replaced by rival Rick Dees. After 40 years, Kasem retired from his role of voicing Shaggy in 2009, although he did voice Shaggy's father in the 2010 TV series Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.
== Early life ==
Kasem was born in Detroit, Michigan, on April 27, 1932, to Lebanese Druze immigrant parents, who had settled in Michigan, where they worked as grocers. Kasem was named after Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a man Kasem said his father respected.
In the 1940s, "Make Believe Ballroom" reportedly inspired Kasem to follow a career in radio and later host a national radio hits countdown show. Kasem received his first experience in radio covering sports at Northwestern High School in Detroit. He then went to Wayne State University for college. While at Wayne State, he voiced children on radio programs such as The Lone Ranger and Challenge of the Yukon. In 1952, Kasem was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to Korea. There, he worked as a DJ/announcer on the Armed Forces Radio Korea Network.
== Career ==
=== Early career ===
After the war, Kasem began his professional broadcasting career in Flint, Michigan. From there, he spent time in Detroit as a disc jockey for radio station WJBK-AM (and doing such shows as The Lone Ranger and Sergeant Preston of the Yukon); Buffalo, New York; and Cleveland before moving to California. At KYA in San Francisco, the general manager first suggested he tone down his 'platter patter' and talk about the records instead. Kasem demurred at first, because it was not what was normally expected in the industry. At KEWB in Oakland, California, Kasem was both the music director and on-air personality. He created a show which mixed in biographical tidbits about the artists' records he played, and attracted the attention of Bill Gavin who tried to recruit him as a partner. After Kasem joined KRLA in Los Angeles in 1963, his career really started to blossom and he championed the R&B music of East L.A.
Kasem earned roles in a number of low budget movies, and acted on radio dramas. While hosting "dance hops" on local television, he attracted the attention of Dick Clark who as a producer hired him to co-host a daily teenage music show called Shebang starting in 1964. Kasem appeared in network TV series including Hawaii Five-O and Ironside. In 1967, Kasem appeared on The Dating Game, and played the role of "Mouth" in the motorcycle gang film The Glory Stompers. In 1969, he played the role of "Knife" in the "surfers vs. bikers" film Wild Wheels, and had a small role in another biker movie, The Cycle Savages, starring Bruce Dern and Melody Patterson.
Kasem's voice was, however, always the key to his career. At the end of the 1960s, he began working as a voice actor. In 1969, he started one of his most famous roles, the voice of Shaggy on Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!. He also voiced the drummer Groove from The Cattanooga Cats that year. In 1964, Kasem had a minor hit single called "Letter From Elaina". A spoken-word recording, it told the story of a girl who met George Harrison after a San Francisco concert.
==Filmography==
===Film===
Year	Title 	Role
1966	The Girls From Thunder Strip 	Additional voices (voice)
1967	The Glory Stompers 	Mouth (Live-action)
1968	Scream Free! 	Additional voices (voice)
1968	2000 Years Later 	Additional voices (voice)
1969	Wild Wheels 	Knife (Live-action)
1969	The Cycle Savages 	Keeg's Brother (voice)
1971	The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant 	Ken (Live-action)
1972	Doomsday Machine 	Mission Control Officer (voice)
1977	Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics (film) 	Shaggy Rogers, Alexander Cabot III, and Mr. Creepley
1978	Disco Fever 	Brian Parker (Live-action)
1979	Scooby Goes Hollywood 	Shaggy Rogers/Additional voices (voice)
1979	The Dark 	Police Pathologist (Live-action)
1980	The Return of the King 	Meriadoc 'Merry' Brandybuck, a Hobbit (voice)
1984	Ghostbusters 	Himself (voice cameo)
1986	The Transformers: The Movie 	Cliffjumper (voice)
1986	The Lord of the Rings 	Bilbo, Theodon (voice)
1987	Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers 	Shaggy Rogers (voice)
1988	Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School 	Shaggy Rogers, Mirror Monster (voice)
1988	Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf 	Shaggy Rogers (voice)
1988	Princess Atta (1988 film) 	Additional voices
1988	Oliver (1988 film) 	Owen Griffiths
1988	Oliver the Giant Kitten 	Owen Griffiths, Professor Ortega's robber #3
1988	Marie the White Female Kitten 	Owen Griffiths, Harry Kitten
1988	Oliver's Love 	Owen Griffiths
1988	I Wanted a Black Cat 	Owen Griffiths
1988	Oliver Likes a Snow 	Owen Griffiths
1988	Oliver Goes to The Circus 	Owen Griffiths
1988	Oliver's Halloween 	Owen Griffiths
1988	Oliver's Christmas Carol 	Owen Griffiths and Additional voices
1990	Oliver and the Ghoul School 	Shaggy Rogers
1994	Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights 	Shaggy Rogers (voice)
2000	Rugrats in Paris: The Movie 	Wedding DJ (voice)
2002	Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire	Shaggy Rogers (voice)
2003	Scooby-Doo! and the Monster of Mexico 	Shaggy Rogers (voice)
2003	Looney Tunes: Back in Action 	Shaggy Rogers (voice)
2004	Scooby-Doo! and the Loch Ness Monster 	Shaggy Rogers (voice)
2005	Aloha, Scooby-Doo! 	Shaggy Rogers (voice)
2005	Scooby-Doo! in Where's My Mummy? 	Shaggy Rogers (voice)
2006	Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy! 	Shaggy Rogers (voice)
2007	Chill Out, Scooby-Doo! 	Shaggy Rogers (voice)
2008	Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King 	Shaggy Rogers (voice)
2009	Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword 	Shaggy Rogers (voice)
===Television===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1968 	Garrison's Gorillas 	Provost Marshall (Live-action) 	2 episodes
1968–69	The Batman/Superman Hour 	Robin, Dick Grayson (voice) 	17 episodes
1969–70	Hot Wheels 	Tank Mallory, Dexter Carter (voice) 	5 episodes
1969–71	Cattanooga Cats 	Groove, the drummer (voice) 	17 episodes
1969-70	Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! 	Shaggy Rogers, additional voices (voice) 	25 episodes
1970 	Skyhawks 	Steve Wilson, Joe Conway (voice) 	Episode: "Devlin's Dilemma"
1970–71	Josie and the Pussycats 	Alexander Cabot III (voice) 	16 episodes
1971 	Here Comes Peter Cottontail 	Peter Cottontail (Live-action) 	Stop-motion Easter special for Rankin-Bass
1972 	Wait Till Your Father Gets Home 	George (Live-action) 	Episode: "The Neighbors"
1972–73	The New Scooby-Doo Movies 	Shaggy Rogers, Robin, Alexander Cabot III, Ghost of Injun Joe (voice)	24 episodes
1972 	Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space 	Alexander Cabot III (voice) 	16 episodes
1973–85	Super Friends 	Robin, Dick Grayson (voice) 	109 episodes
1974 	The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast 	Adolf Hitler (live-action) 	Episode: The Roast of Don Rickles
1974 	Hong Kong Phooey 	Car Stealer, Clown (voice) 	2 episodes
1974 	Hawaii Five-O 	Swift, Freddie Dryden (voice) 	5 episodes
1975 	Emergency +4 	Additional voices (voice) 	12 episodes
1975 	Ironside 	Lab Technician, Jim Crutcher (Live-action) 	2 episodes
1976–77	Dynomutt, Dog Wonder 	Fishface, Swamp Rat, Shaggy Rogers (voice) 	5 episodes
1976–78	The Scooby-Doo Show 	Shaggy Rogers, additional voices (voice) 	40 episodes
1977 	Police Story 	Sobhe (Live-action) 	Episode: "Trial Board"
1977 	Quincy, M.E. 	Sy Wallace (voice) 	Episode: "An Unfriendly Radiance"
1977 	The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries 	Paul Hamilton (voice) 	Episode: "Mystery of the Hollywood Phantom" (Parts I & II)
1977 	Switch 	Tony Brock (Live-action) 	Episode: "Fade Out"
1977–78	What's New Mr. Magoo? 	Waldo, additional voices (voice) 	10 episodes
1977–79	Laff-A-Lympics 	Shaggy Rogers, Mr. Creeply (voice) 	24 episodes
1978 	Charlie's Angels 	Tom Rogers (Live-action) 	Episode: "Winning Is for Losers"
1978 	Jana of the Jungle 	Additional voices (voice) 	13 episodes
1978–85	Battle of the Planets 	Mark (voice) 	85 episodes; American dubbed adaptation of anime series Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (in which the character was originally called "Ken the Eagle")
1979–80	Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo 	Shaggy Rogers (voice) 	16 episodes
1980–82	The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show 	Shaggy Rogers (voice) 	20 episodes
1983 	The All-New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo 	Shaggy Rogers, Mr. Rogers, Mrs. Rogers (voice) 	13 episodes
1984 	The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries 	Shaggy Rogers, Grandpa Rogers (voice) 	13 episodes
1984–86	The Transformers 	Cliffjumper, Bluestreak, Teletraan I Dr. Arkeville (voice) 	60 episodes
1985 	The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo 	Shaggy Rogers (voice) 	13 episodes
1988–91	A Pup Named Scooby-Doo 	Shaggy Rogers, Mr. Rogers (voice) 	27 episodes
1989 	Family Feud 	Himself (cameo appearance) 	"Funny Men vs. Funny Women" Week episode
1989 	A Yabba-Dabba-Doo Celebration! 50 Years of Hanna-Barbera	Shaggy Rogers, additional voices (voice) 	TV Special
1990 	The Fantastic World of Hanna-Barbera 	Shaggy Rogers (voice) 	TV Special
1991 	Scooby-Doo! Behind the Voices 	Himself (Live-action), Shaggy Rogers (voice) 	TV Special
1992 	Tiny Toons Adventures 	Flakey Flakems (voice) 	Episode: "Here's Hamton"
1993 	2 Stupid Dogs 	Bill Barker (voice) 	Episode: "Let's Make a Right Price/One Ton/Far-Out Friday"
1994 	Captain Planet and the Planeteers 	Lexo Starbuck (voice) 	Episode: "You Bet Your Planet"
1995 	Scooby-Doo Mystery 	Shaggy Rogers (voice) 	Video game
1995 	Homeboys in Outer Space 	Spacy Kasem (voice) 	Episodes: "Loquatia Unplugged or Come Back; Little Cyber"
1996 	Illusions Gaming 	Shaggy Rogers (voice) 	Video game
1996 	Sabrina, the Teenage Witch 	Shaggy Rogers (voice) 	Episode: "Sabrina Unplugged"
1997 	Johnny Bravo 	Shaggy Rogers (voice) 	Episode: "The Sensitive Male/Bravo Dooby Doo"
2000 	Histeria! 	Calgary Kasem (voice) 	Episode: "North America"
2002–06	What's New, Scooby-Doo? 	Shaggy Rogers, Virtual Shaggy (voice) 	42 episodes
2003 	Blue's Clues 	Radio (voice) 	Episode: "Blue's Big Car Trip"
2006–08	Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! 	Uncle Albert Shaggleford (voice) 	22 episodes
2009 	Scooby-Doo's Yum Yum Go! 	Shaggy Rogers (voice) 	Computer game
2010−13	Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 	Colton Rogers (voice) 	5 episodes (after retirement)
==References==
Category:1932 births
Category:2014 deaths
Category:Disney people
Category:Hanna-Barbera people
Category:Scooby-Doo
Category:Scooby Doo
Category:Agenty Fox and Pounce the Cat
Category:Oliver the Kitten films
Category:Oliver & Company
Category:The Aristocats
Category:The Little Weedmice
Category:American male voice actors
Category:Deceased Voice Cast Members
Category:Giants Eating Children
Category:Super Hedgehog
Category:Transformers
Category:Julia and the Famous Stars
Category:T.U.F.F. Puppy
Category:Mouse Cop
Category:Officer Otto Fox and Coco CrowCategory:Pages stolen off Wikipedia