Scooby-Doo Star and Radio DJ Casey Kasem Dies

Casey Kasem, who was the voice of the US chart radio countdown and Shaggy in the cartoon Scooby-Doo, has died aged 82.

Kasem, who had been in failing health, passed away on Sunday morning, said a publicist for his daughter, Kerri.

"Early this Father's Day morning, our dad Casey Kasem passed away surrounded by family and friends," said the statement from his daughter.

"Even though we know he is in a better place and no longer suffering, we are heartbroken."

Kasem found fame in 1970 with his radio music countdown show, American Top 40 and, later, Casey's Top 40.

Ryan Seacrest, who succeeded him in 2004, said in a statement that as a child he had been inspired by Kasem to become a radio DJ.

Kasem found wider fame as the voice of Shaggy, the snack-loving slacker on the hugely popular cartoon series Scooby-Doo, about a group of sleuthing teenagers.

The star was at the centre of a bitter public feud between his wife, Jean Kasem, and his three adult children from a previous marriage, who fought for control of his care.

He had been suffering from advanced Parkinson's disease and Lewy Body Disease, a form of dementia.

Last month Kasem was reported missing after Jean took him from a medical facility in California to Washington state without the rest of his family's permission.

A judge last week awarded Kerri temporary authority to make medical decisions for her father.

He was married for three decades to 60-year-old Jean, who appeared in the movie Ghostbusters and the sitcom Cheers, and they had a daughter together.

The family battle had simmered for months as Kasem's oldest children claimed they were being kept from him.

The son of a Lebanese immigrant grocer, the star was born Kemal Amin Kasem in Flint, Michigan, in 1932.

He caught the broadcasting bug when he joined the radio club at his Detroit high school.

Kasem became an announcer on a military radio network in Korea while serving in the Army in the 1950s.

In a brash business full of big egos, he cultivated a friendly rock persona on a series of local stations before becoming a household name.

During his five-decade career, he used the signoff: "Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars."

Kasem was also an activist, advocating for Arab-Americans and speaking out against factory farming.

Despite his stellar radio career, he seemed to think it was his role as the lovable coward Shaggy that would live on.

He first voiced the character - known for his catchphrase "Zoinks!" - from 1969 and continued to do so in TV, film and video games until 2009.

Kasem told the New York Times in 2004: "They are going to be playing Shaggy and Scooby-Doo for eons and eons.

"And they're going to forget Casey Kasem - unless they happen to step on his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

"I'll be one of those guys people say, 'who's that?' about. And someone else will say, 'He's just some guy who used to be on the radio.'"