Daveigh Chase, Star of The Ring and Lilo & Stitch, Passes Away at 35 in Los Angeles

The entertainment world is mourning a deeply felt loss. Daveigh Chase, the gifted actress who gave two generations of moviegoers some of their most unforgettable childhood memories — both terrifying and heartwarming — has passed away at the age of 35 in Los Angeles. Her passing was confirmed to the BBC on June 17, 2026, by her longtime manager and friend, John Ryan Jr.

She was just 35. And that, more than anything, is what makes this so hard to process.

Daveigh Chase: Overview

The Voice, the Face, the Fearless Performer

Few child actors manage to leave a mark across such wildly different genres in the same year — but Daveigh Chase did exactly that in 2002. On one hand, she played Samara Morgan in The Ring, the terrifying ghost-girl crawling out of a television screen in the American remake of the Japanese horror classic. Her performance was so unsettling, so precise, that she won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain in 2003 — a rare honour for a child performer.

On the other hand, that same year, she poured warmth and spirit into voicing Lilo Pelekai in Disney’s beloved animated film Lilo & Stitch, earning an Annie Award for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production. The range was extraordinary, and it spoke to a talent that went far beyond what most child actors ever achieve.

You can read more about the cultural legacy of The Ring franchise on Wikipedia to understand just how central Chase’s performance was to its success.

A Career Quietly Full of Depth

Beyond her two defining 2002 roles, Chase also lent her voice to Chihiro Ogino in the English-language version of Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away — the Academy Award-winning animated masterpiece. On the television front, she appeared in Charmed, ER, and Touched by an Angel, before taking on a recurring role as Rhonda Volmer in HBO’s acclaimed drama Big Love.

According to Ryan, Chase was deeply private by nature, often spending extended periods away from Hollywood at her Las Vegas home and frequently choosing independent productions over major studio offers. “She was the greatest. She loved cats. She worked with cat rescues with us. She was very much to herself,” he said.

That quiet life away from the spotlight, chosen entirely on her own terms, says a lot about the kind of person she was.

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