Daveigh Chase, The Ring and Lilo & Stitch star, dies aged 35
Chase passed away on Tuesday 16 June, it has been reported.
Jordan Strauss / Getty Images
- Molly Moss
Published: Thursday, 18 June 2026 at 10:50 am
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Daveigh Chase, a former child star known for her roles in The Ring and Lilo & Stitch, has died at the age of 35.
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Chase passed away on Tuesday (16 June) from meningitis and an infection in her blood, which led to septic shock, her boyfriend Roy Hernandez told TMZ.
Hernandez told the publication that Chase had been hospitalised for malnutrition earlier in June.
"She was the greatest. She loved cats. She worked with cat rescues with us. She was very to herself," her manager John Ryan Jr told the BBC.
"She was not very Hollywood. She'd rather eat at Bob's Big Boy and go home with the cats. She loved acting but wasn't into the fame scene."
Chase launched her career as a child actor at the age of 7, appearing in commercials and on stage.
At 8, she rose to fame in a 1998 episode of Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, and went on to appear in other TV series including Charmed, ER and The Practice.
In 2001, Chase starred as Samantha Darko in the 2001 cult film Donnie Darko, appearing opposite lead actor Jake Gyllenhaal.
The same year, she voiced Chihiro Ogino in the English dub of Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, but it was for her 2002 voice role as Lilo in Disney's animated Hawaiian adventure Lilo & Stitch for which she likely remains best known.
Daveigh Chase. Kevin Winter / Getty Images
The star went on to voice the character in numerous sequels as well as the TV series, which ran between 2003 and 2006.
Also in 2002, Chase appeared as the hauntingly unforgettable Samara Morgan in The Ring. She earned a 2003 MTV Movie Award for best villain for the role, beating out the likes of Spider-Man‘s Willem Dafoe, Daredevil‘s Colin Farrell and Mike Myers.
Her final acting roles were in the independent horror movie Jack Goes Home and American Romance.
Hernandez had launched a GoFundMe for Chase to help give her “that sense of home and peace” in her final days before her death.
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He wrote of her "hardships", including a difficult childhood and falling out with her family.
Authors
Molly MossTrends Writer
Molly Moss is a Trends Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest trends across TV, film and more. She has an MA in Newspaper Journalism and has previously written for publications including The Guardian, The Times and The Sun Online.
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