Beloved character actress Daveigh Chase, whose decades-long career spanned iconic horror roles and beloved Disney animation, has passed away at the age of 35. Her long-time manager and close friend John Ryan Jr. confirmed to BBC News that the actress died at a Los Angeles hospital from sepsis stemming from a recent battle with meningitis. Ryan also shared that Chase had been admitted to the medical facility for treatment of malnourishment in the lead-up to her death.
Born in Las Vegas, Chase began her entertainment career at the young age of 4, cutting her teeth in local voiceover and theater productions before moving to Hollywood to pursue full-time acting. She landed her first on-screen role at 7, a small guest spot on the hit 1990s sitcom *Sabrina the Teenage Witch* led by Melissa Joan Hart, marking the start of a decades-long career that would see her become a staple of American film and television.
Chase earned her first major career breakthrough in 2001 with a supporting role in the cult classic psychological drama *Donnie Darko*, playing Samantha Darko, the younger sister of Jake Gyllenhaal’s troubled protagonist. She would reprise this role eight years later in the standalone follow-up *S Darko*.
In 2002, two career-defining roles cemented Chase’s place in pop culture history. First, she took on the iconic part of Samara Morgan, the vengeful, long-haired ghost at the center of Gore Verbinski’s American remake of the Japanese horror classic *The Ring*. Her haunting portrayal of the character who crawls out of television screens to kill her victims earned her the 2003 MTV Movie Award for Best Villain, a testament to her uncanny ability to bring terrifying characters to life. Speaking to the *Los Angeles Times* shortly after the film’s release, Chase said she relished the chance to play against type. “It is not your typical character. Usually they are looking for a happy-go-lucky kid, but Samara was a pretty interesting character to play. I just kind of took my own voice and put this freaky twist on it,” she explained.
Later that same year, Chase showcased her range by voicing the lead role of Lilo Pelekai, the adventurous, Elvis-loving young Hawaiian girl at the heart of Disney’s animated hit *Lilo & Stitch*. Her warm, heartfelt performance earned her an Annie Award for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature, and she would go on to reprise the role in multiple franchise spin-offs.
Throughout her career, Chase amassed an extensive resume of television roles, including single-episode guest spots on hit series *Charmed*, *ER*, and *Touched by an Angel*. She also held a 32-episode recurring role on HBO’s acclaimed drama *Big Love*, playing Rhonda Volmer, a young child bride in the show’s central polygamous community.
Ryan, who represented Chase for 15 years, remembered her as a talented performer who rejected the glitz and glamour of Hollywood fame. “She was the greatest. She loved cats. She worked with cat rescues with us. She was very to herself,” Ryan said. He added that Chase often spent years at a time retreating to her Las Vegas home and regularly turned down big-budget studio roles in favor of independent projects. “She was not very Hollywood,” he said. “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 maintained residences in both downtown Los Angeles and Nevada throughout her adult life.
Chase retired from full-time acting in 2015. Later in her career, she faced well-documented personal and legal challenges, including multiple charges for drug possession and joyriding in a stolen vehicle, according to *The Hollywood Reporter*. Tributes began circulating across social media shortly after news of her passing broke, with fans and industry peers remembering her unforgettable contributions to film and animation.