Casey Kasem
From Transformers Wiki
Casey Kasem (born Kemal Amin Kasem, April 27, 1932 - June 15, 2014) was an American voice actor. Among other roles, he was best known as the original voice of Shaggy Rogers from the Scooby-Doo franchise, Robin from Superfriends, Merry Brandybuck from Return of the King, and Alexander Cabot III from Josie and the Pussycats. He also had some kind of radio show or something. Chances are you've heard of it.
He really hated it when up-tempo numbers preceded dedications to dead pets. He also hated offensive stereotypes.
In June 2014, Kasem passed away due to complications from Lewy body dementia.
Contents |
Roles
The Transformers cartoon
- Bluestreak
- Cliffjumper
- Doctor Arkeville
- Robot slave ("Chaos")
- Teletraan I
- Teletraan II (replaced with Frank Welker)
Notes
- Mr. Kasem left the original Transformers cartoon during production of the third-season episode "Thief in the Night" because of its depiction of the highly stereotypical Abdul Fakkadi as dictator of made-up Arab state Carbombya.[1] Kasem's family is Lebanese Druze. Kasem had elaborated that it wasn't that he minded Arabs being portrayed as villains per se; it's just when the villains were the only Arab characters in a story and there are no positive counter-examples that he felt offended.
- At the time of his departure, Kasem's two major Autobot roles had already been retired from the series due to their toys being discontinued. His only current recurring role was Teletraan II, whose voice he had provided in "Chaos." With his departure, the part was recast with Frank Welker, who debuted in the role in "Thief in the Night"; Kasem's lines in "Chaos" were simply deleted and not replaced, but he could still be heard in the episode providing the voice of an enslaved robot for a single line.
- At the unofficial convention TF Expo 2022, Flint Dille recalled that Casey tried unsuccessfully to get Flint fired from the show by complaining to Jay Bacal about Fakkadi.
- The third season credits spell his first name as Kasey.
- Kasem and the other deceased cast members of the first four episodes of the series received an In Memoriam tribute at the end of the Transformers 40th Anniversary Event in 2024.
References
- ↑ "After Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, hate crimes and threats against Arab-Americans were reported across the United States. '"America’s DJ,"' Casey Kasem, writes about how anti-Arab stereotypes on television and in movies create a climate for such violence."—Kasem, Casey, Americans for Middle East Understanding, "Arab Defamation in the Media", 1990/12/05
