Casey Kasem is famous for his voice that has been heard by millions either over the radio or television. Over the years, Kasem has been the voice for many beloved animated characters such as Shaggy on the cartoon Scooby Doo , Robin on Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder , as well as numerous beloved Sesame Street animated characters according to Behindthevoiceactors.com.
Kasem is best known as the voice behind the music in the weekly American Top 40 radio show. Casey was the host from its inception in 1970 and continued to be the host for twenty-four years per Mixfm.com . After having been such a familiar voice in our homes and in our cars as we listened to the countdown, Casey Kasem celebrated his 82nd birthday on April 27 without his children by his side.
Casey, who is currently suffering from the late stages of Parkinson’s disease is spending his final days as a patient at the Berkley East Convalescent Hospital in Santa Monica, California according to USMagazine.com . As if this news isn’t sad enough, Kasem’s three children, Kerri, 35, Mike, 40, and Julie, 38, from his first marriage to Linda Myers, have not been allowed to see their father for a very long time. Casey’s current wife, Jean, who has been Kasem’s caregiver in their home, and then had him admitted to the hospital, has not allowed Casey’s children to see him.
In an effort to see their father, Casey Kasem’s children, when trying to resolve things with Jean Kasem didn’t work, went the route of the court system. According to Realitytvworld.com , Casey’s children filed for a conservatorship to take over their father’s health care. But a judge ruled against their request stating that Kasem was receiving excellent care at that time.
Although the judge encouraged the family to end their feud, and come to an agreement on visitation for Kasem, it is unknown at this time if that has taken place. All we know is that Casey Kasem’s daughter, Kerri, put out a plea on FaceBook. She asked for all of Casey Kasem’s fans to come to his birthday vigil outside of his hospital from 6pm to 7pm Sunday.
Kerri tells USMagazine.com that she and her siblings were always very close to Kasem and talked to him on the phone everyday before he became so ill. She says she can’t understand why Jean Kasem would just rip Casey from their lives telling them, “Sorry, he (Casey) is just going to die with me.”
Kerri continues stating, “We don’t want his (Kasem’s) money, we don’t want his estate, we don’t want anything from her. All we want is to see our dad…We just want to see our dad and to love him and take care of him before he dies.” For Kasem’s sake, we hope the family can resolve their differences for his sake. And we wish Casey Kasem a very Happy Birthday.