Radio legend Casey Kasem dies at 82

By Tribute on June 16, 2014 | Leave a Comment

Casey Kasem, known as the American Top 40 radio host, passed away early Sunday morning surrounded by friends and family. He was diagnosed in 2007 with Parkinson’s disease and also suffered from dementia and sepsis. Known for his distinctive dramatic voice, it’s not surprising Casey was a voice actor and radio personality. His voice acting credits include The Transformers (character: Cliffjumper), Scooby-Doo animated series (character: Shaggy Rogers) and Super Friends animated series (character: Robin) for the entire run of the series. You may also recognize Casey as the host of “American Top 40” in the 1984 Ghostbusters movie.

Casey’s remarkable career included a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Radio in California, which also happened to be around his 49th birthday. Then he was inducted in the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 1985, followed by an induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1992. In 1997, he received the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award from Billboard Magazine. Casey is survived by wife Jean, his four children: Kerri Kasem, Mike Kasem Julie Kasem and Liberty Kasem, and four grandchildren.  His daughter Kerri took to twitter Sunday to share the sad news.

Early this Father’s Day morning, our dad Casey Kasem passed away surrounded by family and friends. Even (cont) http://t.co/G4mxcmGWch

— Kerri Kasem (@KerriKasem) June 15, 2014

Ryan Seacrest who was mentored by and then took over the AT40 from Casey 10 years ago said in a statement, “Casey had a distinctive friendly on-air voice, and he was just as affable and nice if you had the privilege to be in his company. He’ll be greatly missed by all of us.”

— Ryan Seacrest (@RyanSeacrest) June 15, 2014

~ Andrea Hodgins

---

---

1. There are no comments yet, why not be the first?

---