Former child star who voiced Lilo and played horror icon Samara Morgan dies at 35
American actress Daveigh Chase, who voiced Lilo in Disney’s ‘Lilo & Stitch’ and played Samara Morgan in ‘The Ring’, has died at the age of 35.
According to BBC News, Chase died in a Los Angeles hospital, with her longtime manager John Ryan Jr confirming that she died from sepsis following a bout of meningitis.
Source: IMDb
TMZ also reported that Chase had been admitted to hospital earlier this month due to malnutrition before her condition worsened.
Fundraiser launched before her death
Her boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, told TMZ that Chase had meningitis and an infection in her blood, which caused septic complications and eventually led to her body shutting down.
Shortly before her death, Hernandez launched a GoFundMe campaign titled “Help Daveigh Chase Find Comfort and Peace”, seeking support during what he described as her “final days”.
Source: GoFundMe
In the fundraiser description, he wrote that Chase had been diagnosed with meningitis and multiple serious blood infections, and that doctors had warned her condition was critical.
He also claimed that she had gone through a difficult upbringing and personal struggles, adding that the funds would go towards giving her comfort, peace, and a stable home environment during her illness.
Manager claims friends had tried to help her before her death
In a separate report by the New York Post, Ryan claimed that he and Chase’s stepsister had been trying to locate her and get her help in the year before her death.
Ryan alleged that he was alerted to a video in late 2025 that appeared to show Chase looking frail and barely conscious in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles.
He told the publication that he had managed to speak to Chase over the phone and was trying to arrange treatment for her, but claimed she had disappeared by the time he arrived.
Ryan also disputed the GoFundMe set up by Hernandez, telling the New York Post that he was not familiar with the man who described himself as Chase’s boyfriend.
He claimed that Chase had a SAG trust account that could cover costs.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Rose to fame as the voice of Disney’s Lilo
Chase gained international recognition in 2002 as the voice of Lilo in Disney’s animated film ‘Lilo & Stitch’.
Source: The Disney Wiki
She later reprised the role in related projects and also voiced Chihiro Ogino in the American dub of ‘Spirited Away’, becoming a familiar name in early 2000s animation.
That same year, she appeared as Samara Morgan in ‘The Ring’, the horror remake in which her character famously crawls out of a television screen.
Source: IMDb
The role became one of the most recognisable images in modern horror and earned Chase the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.
Her other credits included ‘ER’, ‘Charmed’, ‘Touched by an Angel’, ‘Donnie Darko’, and HBO’s ‘Big Love’, where she appeared in 32 episodes as Rhonda Volmer.
Her manager told BBC News that Chase stepped back from full-time acting in 2015, choosing instead to live more privately and take on smaller independent projects.
Also Read: US actor James Van Der Beek dies aged 48, best known for role in Dawson’s Creek
US actor James Van Der Beek dies aged 48, best known for role in Dawson’s Creek
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Featured image adapted from IMDb, IMDb, and IMDb.
