Rafu Wire Service and Staff Reports
Daveigh Chase, a former child actress who gained early fame as the voice of Lilo in Disney’s 2002 animated hit film “Lilo & Stitch’’ and also portrayed the nightmarish Samara Morgan in the horror film “The Ring’’ that same year, died June 16 at age 35.
Chase, whose legal name is Daveigh Schwallier, died due to AIDS with “chronic polysubstance use’’ listed as another significant condition possibly contributing to her natural death, the Los Angeles County Medical Examner’s Office revealed on June 29.
However, her boyfriend Roy Hernandez told TMX that she died due to meningitis and a blood infection.
Hernandez had created a GoFundMe page just prior to her death, saying her medical condition had dramatically worsened.
He wrote on the page that despite her early success on screen, Chase “faced more than her share of hardship,’’ including “a difficult childhood and a painful falling out with her family.”
Chase’s former manager and longtime friend John Ryan urged people not to donate to the fundraiser, telling Deadline that her family has “plenty of means to pay for the cremation” and that the GoFundMe “is NOT going to any expenses for Daveigh.”
Born in Las Vegas and raised in Oregon, Chase made guest appearances as a child in TV shows including “Charmed,’’ “ER,’’ and “Sabrina the Teenage Witch.’’ She also appeared in the film “Donnie Darko’’ in 2001, but gained fame as the voice of Lilo in Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch’’ as well as “Stitch! The Movie” (2003), “Lilo & Stitch’s Island of Adventures” (2003), “Leroy & Stitch” (2006), “Lilo & Stitch: The Series” (2003-2006), and two video games.
Her haunting performance in “The Ring,’’ starring Naomi Watts and based on the 1998 Japanese film “Ringu,” earned her an MTV Movie Award for best villain.
She provided the voice of Chihiro in the English-dubbed version of Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning anime feature “Spirited Away.’’ The English voice cast also included Jason Marsden as Haku and Suzanne Pleshette as Yubaba.
Chase also starred in the HBO drama series “Big Love,’’ opposite Bill Paxton. Her last IMDb credit was in 2016.