The longtime “American Top 40” host got his start as a radio personality in several different markets, including a brief stay in Cleveland, before hitting it big nationally with his signature countdown show and numerous acting and voiceover gigs, including that of providing the voice of “Shaggy” in the “Scooby-Doo” cartoons.
(CNN) — Casey Kasem, who entertained radio listeners for almost four decades as the host of countdown shows such as “American Top 40” and “Casey’s Top 40,” died early Sunday, according to a Facebook post from his daughter Kerri Kasem.
The news was confirmed by Casey’s Kasem’s agent, Don Pitts.
Casey Kasem was 82 and had been hospitalized in Washington state for two weeks.
“Early this Father’s Day morning, our dad Casey Kasem passed away surrounded by family and friends,” Kasem’s children — Kerri, Mike and Julie — wrote in a statement released by Kasem’s representative, Danny Deraney.
“Even though we know he is in a better place and no longer suffering, we are heartbroken … The world will miss Casey Kasem, an incredible talent and humanitarian; we will miss our Dad.”
Kasem’s longtime friend, Gonzalo Venecia, and his younger brother, Mouner Kasem, were also with him when he died at St. Anthony’s Hospital in Gig Harbor, Washington, at 3:25 a.m. Sunday, a family member said.
Casey Kasem had been suffering from Lewy body disease, the most common type of progressive dementia after Alzheimer’s.
He had recently been the subject of a bitter court battle involving three of his children by a previous marriage and his wife, Jean.
READ MORE: CNN.com
Article Courtesy of CNN
Picture Courtesy of Getty Images, WireImage and CNN
