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[4] (voice) |
1984 | Ghostbusters | Himself[2] (voice cameo) |
1986 | The Transformers: The Movie | Cliffjumper[4] (voice) |
1986 | The Lord of the Rings | Bilbo, Theodon[2] (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[4] (voice) | 17 episodes |
1969–70 | Hot Wheels | Tank Mallory, Dexter Carter[5] (voice) | 5 episodes |
1969–71 | Cattanooga Cats | Groove,[2] the drummer (voice) | 17 episodes |
1969-70 | Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! | Shaggy Rogers, additional voices[4] (voice) | 25 episodes |
1970 | Skyhawks | Steve Wilson,[5] Joe Conway (voice) | Episode: "Devlin's Dilemma" |
1970–71 | Josie and the Pussycats | Alexander Cabot III[2] (voice) | 16 episodes |
1971 | Here Comes Peter Cottontail | Peter Cottontail[2] (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[4] (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,[4] 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[4] (voice) | 5 episodes (after retirement) |
References[]
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- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Terrace, Vincent (2008). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). McFarland. pp. 478, 545, 980, 1467. ISBN 978-0-7864-8641-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=YX_daEhlnbsC&pg=PA478.