[8] He then attended Wayne State University, where he voiced children on radio programs such as The Lone Ranger and Challenge of the Yukon.

[13] Kasem unsuccessfully attempted work as a stage actor in New York City for six months,[6] auditioning for a role in the off-Broadway production Ivan Of, but lost out to Ed Asner.

[12]: 201–202  Returning to Detroit, Kasem re-applied at WJBK but was promptly referred to co-owned WJW, which not only had a late-evening slot open but a hosting role for Cleveland Bandstand over WJW-TV as well.

[14] Kasem identified himself as "Casey at the Mike"[11]: 1318  owing to varied misspellings of his name in both contemporary news accounts and station promos.

[15] Kasem's tenure in Cleveland was a brief but successful one, entering the market "with a vengeance" against Top 40 stations WHK and KYW.

[13] Within three months, Kasem reached second place behind WHK in ratings surveys on weeknights[12]: 202  and number one on Saturday nights.

[13] The R&B selections and "wild-tracking" by Kasem also distinguished himself from WJW's daytime pop-oriented fare, which typically featured Perry Como and The McGuire Sisters as core artists.

[13] The payola scandal which enveloped Alan Freed's career emerged after Kasem joined WJW;[citation needed] in response, Kasem began a regular comedy bit called the "Payola Tune of the Night"[15] which WJW management encouraged under the assumption it would dissuade listeners from thinking he was under investigation as well.

[15] While hosting Cleveland Bandstand, Kasem started to take pep pills to lose weight; one day he forgot them while en route to the station, with the resulting pang of conscience after retrieving them from his apartment prompting him to give up the habit entirely.

[19] He created a show that mixed biographical tidbits about the artists he played, and attracted the attention of Bill Gavin, who tried to recruit him as a partner.

[7][20] While hosting "dance hops" on local television, he attracted the attention of Dick Clark, who hired him as co-host of a daily teenage music show called Shebang, starting in 1964.

[9] In 1967, he appeared on The Dating Game, and played the role of "Mouth" in the motorcycle gang film The Glory Stompers.

In 1964 during the Beatlemania craze, Kasem had a minor hit single called "Letter from Elaina", a spoken-word recording that told the story of a girl who met George Harrison after a San Francisco Beatles concert.

[9] On July 4, 1970, Kasem, along with Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs, launched the weekly radio program American Top 40 (AT40).

He portrayed a golf commentator in an episode of Charlie's Angels titled "Winning is for Losers", and appeared on Police Story, Quincy, M.E.

In 1977, Kasem was hired as the narrator for the ABC sitcom Soap, but quit after the pilot episode because of the show's controversial content.

[18] Kasem voiced Mark in Battle of the Planets and several Transformers characters: Bluestreak, Cliffjumper, Teletraan I and Dr.

[30] In 1997, after having voiced Shaggy Rogers on an episode of Johnny Bravo, Kasem quit his role in a dispute over a Burger King commercial, with Billy West and Scott Innes taking over the character in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

[20] He agreed to a new contract to continue hosting his weekly adult contemporary countdown shows in the interim, which at the time were both titled American Top 20.

In 2005 Kasem renewed his deal with Premiere Radio Networks to continue hosting his shows, one of which had been reduced to ten songs and was retitled American Top 10 to reflect the change.

[20] In April 2005, a television special called American Top 40 Live aired on the Fox network, hosted by Seacrest, with Kasem appearing on the show.

In June 2009, Premiere announced it would no longer produce Kasem's two remaining countdowns, ending their eleven-year relationship.

[34] Kasem, by this point at age 77, decided against finding another syndicator or replacement host, citing a desire to explore other avenues such as writing a memoir.

[citation needed] Although officially retired from acting, Kasem provided the voice of Colton Rogers, Shaggy's father, on a recurring basis for the 2010–2013 series Scooby-Doo!

"[10] Kasem was a dedicated vegan, supported animal rights and environmental causes, and was a critic of factory farming.

[38] Kasem was active in politics, supporting Lebanese-American and Arab-American causes,[39][40] an interest triggered by the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

[48] In 1989, Kasem purchased a home built in 1954 and located at 138 North Mapleton Drive in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, previously owned by developer Abraham M. Lurie, as a birthday present for his wife, Jean.

[63] On June 6, 2014, Kasem was reported to be in critical but stable condition in hospital in Washington state, receiving antibiotics for bedsores and treatment for high blood pressure.

[65] Judge Daniel S. Murphy ruled that Kasem had to be hydrated, fed, and medicated, as a court-appointed lawyer reported on his health status.

The lawsuit charged Jean Kasem with elder abuse and inflicting emotional distress on the children by restricting access before his death.