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Jean Kasem

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Jean Kasem
Jean with husband Casey Kasem on the red carpet at the 45th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in September 1993
Born
Jean Thompson

(1954-05-21) May 21, 1954 (age 70)
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Guam
OccupationActress
Years active1982–1999
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1980; died 2014)​
Children1 child
3 stepchildren, including Kerri and Mike Kasem

Jean Thompson Kasem (born May 21, 1954) is an American actress. She is the widow of radio personality and actor Casey Kasem.

Biography

Early life

Jean Thompson was one of five children born to Irene Celia Thompson (1919-2008) and Herbert Owens Thompson Sr. (deceased).[1] She is of Norwegian heritage on her mother's side.[2][3] She lived in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, before her civil-servant father moved the family to Guam in 1963.[4] She attended the University of Guam at age 16, but after marrying a U.S. Navy lieutenant when she was 17, she left to work as a waitress and saleswoman on U.S. military bases throughout the Pacific Ocean to which her husband was posted. The marriage lasted six years.[4] She moved to California and unsuccessfully attempted to find work in broadcast journalism. Frustrated, she joined an acting workshop and soon found roles on such TV series as Matt Houston, Fantasy Island and Alice.[4]

Career

Kasem played the recurring role of Loretta Tortelli, the wife of Nick Tortelli (Dan Hedaya) on Cheers and as a cast-member of the short-lived spinoff The Tortellis. She has also worked as voice actor for such animated television series as Darkwing Duck, 2 Stupid Dogs, Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!, Johnny Bravo, and Mother Goose and Grimm.[5]

She made guest appearances in several movies and television shows, including Growing Pains, Cybill, Hunter, Family Feud,[6] Hollywood Squares, My Two Dads, Hope & Gloria and others. She holds twelve patents with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, all pertaining to crib and canopy design,[7] developed for her crib business, Little Miss Liberty Round Crib Company.[8]

Personal life

She was married to radio personality Casey Kasem from 1980 until his death in 2014, and they had one child together, Liberty Jean Kasem.[9]

In 1989, Casey Kasem purchased a house built in 1954, previously owned by developer Abraham M. Lurie, as a birthday present for her.[10][11]

Stepchildren and conservatorship

Main article: Casey Kasem § Personal life

Casey Kasem had three children from a previous marriage: Kerri, Julie, and Mike Kasem.[12][13] In October 2013, Kerri Kasem said that her father was suffering from Parkinson's disease;[14] a few months later, she said Casey Kasem had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, which is often difficult to differentiate from Parkinson's.[15] Owing to his condition, he was no longer able to speak.[16]

On October 1, 2013, Kerri Kasem, her siblings and their uncle, Casey's brother, protested outside Casey and Jean Kasem's home, saying Jean Kasem had been preventing contact with Casey Kasem for three months.[14][17] Six days later, Julie Kasem and her husband, Dr. Jamil Aboulhosn, filed a conservatorship petition to place Casey Kasem under their care.[18] The court denied their petition.[19]

On May 12, 2014, Kerri Kasem was granted conservatorship over Jean Kasem's objection.[20] The court ordered an investigation into Casey Kasem's whereabouts, after Jean Kasem's attorney argued the court had no jurisdiction as he was "no longer in the United States," but did not give any information to the court about Kasem's whereabouts.[16] But after Casey was located in Washington state, Kerri Kasem was given custody.

Casey Kasem died on June 15, 2014, aged 82. His widow was given her husband's body for funeral arrangements,[21] and Casey Kasem was buried in the Vestre Gravlund cemetery in Oslo, Norway.[22]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1982 Strike Force Marlene Episode: "Lonely Ladies"
1983 Matt Houston Andrea Episode: "The Yacht Club Murders"
We Got It Made Clarisse Episode: "Mickey Goes Topless"
Alice Babette Episode: "It Had to Be Mel"
1984 Fantasy Island Actress Episode: "The Awakening of Love/The Imposter"
Ghostbusters Tall Woman at Party
1984–1993 Cheers Loretta Tortelli 6 episodes
1985 Star Fairies Ture Love (voice) Television film
1987 The Tortellis Loretta Tortelli 13 episodes
1989 Growing Pains DeDe DeWitt Episode: "Ben and Mike's Excellent Adventure"
1990 Rock Hudson Madge
Elliot Fauman, Ph.D. Meredith Dashley
Fall from Grace Palm Springs Realtor Television film
The Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda Additional voices Episode: "Pity the Poor Pirate"
The New Dragnet Miss Lamorock Episode: "Where's My Soup Cans?"
1991 Hunter Wanda Crebbs Episode: "Little Man with a Big Reputation"
Perfect Crimes Sheila Television film
Darkwing Duck Additional voices Episode: "My Valentine Ghoul"
The Story Lady Sensuous Witch Television film
1993 2 Stupid Dogs Female Contestant (voice) Episode: "Let's Make a Right Price"
1994 Nurses Jean Episode: "All the Pretty Caseys"
A Million to Juan Party Guest
The 5 Mrs. Bunchanans Frances 'Tink' Larson Episode: "The Mothers-in-Law"
1995 Hope & Gloria Candy Episode: "The Dupree Family Christmas"
1997 Johnny Bravo Tabitha, Suzy's Mom (voices) 1 episode
Malcolm & Eddie Nurse L. Reed Episode: "Whose Room Is it Anyway?"
1998 Buddy Faro Unknown role Episode: "Death by Airbrush"
1999 Good vs. Evil Sitcom Wife Episode: "To Be or Not to Be Evil"
Final role

References

  1. ^ "Irene Celia Thompson". Portsmouth Herald. Portsmouth, New Hampshire. January 18, 2009. Archived from the original on October 1, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  2. ^ Marcus Husby. "Derfor vil enken frakte radiokjendisens lik til Oslo (Therefore widow carrying radio renowned ice equal to Oslo)". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2015-05-25.
  3. ^ Thompson, Jean (2014-08-07). "Letter to cemetery council in Oslo, Norway" (PDF). Verdens Gang. Retrieved 2015-05-25.
  4. ^ a b c Norbom, Mary Ann (March 16, 1987). "Playing Dumb, Jean Kasem Gives a Brassy Tint to The Tortellis". People. Vol. 27, no. 11. Retrieved October 1, 2013. Suffice it to say that Kasem, 32...
  5. ^ Jean Kasem at IMDb
  6. ^ Family Feud (1989): Funny Men vs Funny Women on YouTube
  7. ^ "Kasem, Jean, Patents". United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  8. ^ Little Miss Liberty Round Crib Company official site. Archived from the original on April 16, 2013.
  9. ^ Fitzpatrick, Laura (July 7, 2009). "Radio Host Casey Kasem". Time. Retrieved October 1, 2013. Married his current wife, Jean ... in 1980. ...In 1990, after suffering eight miscarriages, the couple had a daughter, Liberty Jean Kasem.
  10. ^ Ryon, Ruth (July 2, 1989). "Kasem Gives Wife Holmby Hills Gift". Los Angeles Times.
  11. ^ Willett, Megan (April 8, 2013). "House of the Day: Casey Kasem Is Selling His Crazy LA Mansion For $42 Million". BusinessInsider.com.
  12. ^ Espen, Hal (February 14, 2014). "The Sad, Strange Family Battle Over Radio Legend Casey Kasem". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 12, 2014. Retrieved 2014-05-12.
  13. ^ Hon Jing Yi (July 5, 2014). "Mike Kasem: My dad is still not buried". Today. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
  14. ^ a b Pennacchio, George (October 1, 2013). "Casey Kasem's family feud: Wife won't let kids, friends see him?". Los Angeles, California: KABC-TV. Archived from the original on October 5, 2013. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
  15. ^ Kasem, Julie; Kasem, Kerri; Martin, Troy (2014-05-13). "[Interview]". CNN Tonight (Interview). Interviewed by Bill Weir. CNN. Comments about disease aired around 9:41 p.m. EDT; comments about purpose at the end of the interview.
  16. ^ a b "Judge Orders Probe Into Casey Kasem's Whereabouts". ABC News. Associated Press. May 12, 2014. Retrieved 2014-05-12.
  17. ^ "Casey Kasem Family Feud: Cops Called". TMZ.com. October 1, 2013. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
  18. ^ Duke, Alan (October 8, 2013). "Casey Kasem's kids take stepmom to court". CNN. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  19. ^ "Judge Rejects Children's Request For Conservatorship of Casey Kasem". KCBS-TV/KCAL-TV. November 19, 2013. Archived from the original on November 28, 2013. Retrieved 2014-05-13.
  20. ^ Hetherman, Bill (May 12, 2014). "Casey Kasem's daughter named temporary conservator for father". Los Angeles Daily News. City News Service. Archived from the original on May 12, 2014. Retrieved 2014-05-12.
  21. ^ Casey Kasem funeral arrangements to be handled by wife, tmz.com; June 16, 2014.
  22. ^ Bakare, Lanre (23 December 2014). "Casey Kasem buried in Norway after protracted family squabble". The Guardian. Retrieved 2020-09-26.
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