A sad piece of news from Los Angeles is causing shock and disbelief around the world.
For many fans, the news feels like a piece of childhood slipping away. Daveigh Chase, who brought Disney’s Lilo to life in Lilo & Stitch and helped turn the animated classic into a global success, has died in Los Angeles.
According to her father and her partner, she passed away in a hospital from complications caused by bacterial meningitis that developed into a severe bloodstream infection and septic complications. She was only 35 years old ...
Two Roles That Defined An Early 2000s Career
Chase rose to prominence in the early 2000s as a rare kind of child star, one whose voice carried warmth, personality, and emotional depth far beyond her age. As Lilo, she helped shape one of Disney’s most enduring modern characters, loved for her mix of defiance, humor, and vulnerability.
At nearly the same time, she made a very different kind of cultural impact. As Samara Morgan in the horror film The Ring, Chase became the face of one of the most iconic scares in modern horror history. The image of the long-haired girl emerging from a television screen remains one of the defining visuals of 2000s genre cinema.
A Career Between Cult Classics And Hollywood Television
Beyond her most famous roles, Chase continued working across film and television. She provided the English voice of Chihiro in Spirited Away and appeared in projects such as Donnie Darko and other television productions.
One of her most notable later roles came in the HBO series Big Love, where she portrayed Rhonda Volmer across multiple seasons. The character showcased a darker, more complex side of her acting range and became a standout part of the series. After 2016, Chase gradually stepped away from acting. In the years that followed, reports surfaced of personal and legal struggles. Her father said she had been dealing with serious challenges since her teenage years.
With her passing, Hollywood loses a performer who bridged two very different worlds: the innocence of a beloved Disney classic and the unsettling legacy of one of horror’s most unforgettable figures.
Everyone at EarlyGame would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to Daveigh Chase’s family, friends, and loved ones during this difficult time.