Daveigh Chase, the actress who gave voice to Lilo in Lilo & Stitch and chilled audiences as Samara Morgan in The Ring, has died at the age of 35.
Chase died on June 16, 2026, in a Los Angeles hospital. Her father, John David Schwallier, confirmed to The New York Times that she passed away from complications of bacterial meningitis and a blood infection. Her boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, told TMZ that the infection led to septic complications. TMZ reported she had been hospitalized earlier that month for malnutrition.
A career that began in childhood
Born Daveigh Elizabeth Chase on July 24, 1990, in Las Vegas and raised in Albany, Oregon, she began acting as a child. By age seven she was appearing in commercials and on stage, and soon landed roles on TV series including Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Charmed, and ER.
Daveigh Chase: image credit goes to original creator
In 2001 she was cast as Samantha Darko in Richard Kelly’s cult film Donnie Darko, and voiced Chihiro in the English dub of Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away. Her breakthrough came in 2002, when she voiced the orphaned Hawaiian girl Lilo in Disney’s beloved Lilo & Stitch, a role she reprised across sequels and the 2003–2006 series.
That same year brought her most haunting role: the eerie Samara Morgan in The Ring. Her performance won her an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain. She later took a recurring role in HBO’s Big Love beginning in 2006 before stepping away from acting.
A difficult final chapter
In the years before her death, Chase’s life grew increasingly difficult. Her father said she had been homeless and was staying with her boyfriend near the hospital where she died. Her mother, Cathy Chase, has spoken about her daughter’s long struggles with addiction in the years leading up to her death. Her former manager said friends and family had tried for years to reach her and get her help, at one point even hiring a private investigator.
Her death has also drawn attention to a dispute: a GoFundMe campaign launched by Hernandez in her final days was questioned by her former manager, who disputed its legitimacy. As of recent reports the campaign had raised roughly $4,000. The competing accounts remain unresolved publicly.
Remembered for her work
However troubled her later years, Chase leaves behind a body of work that shaped a generation of filmgoers from the warmth of Lilo to the terror of Samara. Fans around the world have shared tributes recalling the range of a performer who could voice both a lonely child longing for family and one of horror cinema’s most unforgettable figures. Daveigh Chase was 35.
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