Daveigh Chase, known for “The Ring” and voicing Lilo in “Lilo & Stitch,” reportedly died Tuesday, June 16, at age 35 after meningitis and an infection in her blood, with her boyfriend Roy Hernandez saying she’d been hospitalized earlier this month for malnutri
When the news broke that Daveigh Chase had died at 35, it landed with sudden weight on fans who remember her as a voice and a face from some of the era’s most enduring films.
Hernandez, her boyfriend, told a Hollywood publication that Chase died Tuesday, June 16, from meningitis and an infection in her blood. He also said she had been admitted to a Los Angeles hospital earlier this month for malnutrition.
Beyond the grief. there’s a second reaction that often follows reports like this: anxiety about health and what can go wrong when warning signs are missed or when bodies are stressed. The details here—meningitis. bloodstream infection. and malnutrition—sit together in a way that naturally draws attention to how serious infections can become. and how fragile health can feel when nutrition is compromised.
Chase’s breakthrough came on the big screen at age 10. co-starring as Jake Gyllenhaal’s younger sister. Samantha. in the 2001 psychological thriller “Donnie Darko.” She later carved out a second legacy through voice acting. including voicing the young heroine Chihiro in the English-language dub of Hayao Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away. ” and voicing the misfit Lilo in Disney’s 2002 animated hit “Lilo & Stitch.”.
In 2002. she also became a memorable horror figure as Samara. the long-haired. rubber-jointed child who crawls out of a television set in “The Ring.” Her performance earned her an MTV Movie Award for best villain. beating out Daniel Day-Lewis. Mike Myers. Willem Dafoe and Colin Farrell in her category.
Chase was born in Las Vegas and raised in Albany, Oregon. She began acting at 8 years old after her mother crashed her car in Los Angeles during a family road trip. Doctors told her mother she couldn’t drive for six months. leaving the family stuck in Los Angeles. where Chase started going out on auditions.
She also appeared in television throughout the early 2000s, with guest roles in “ER,” “The Practice,” “Touched by an Angel” and “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.” Her most prominent TV role was HBO’s “Big Love” as Rhonda Volmer, an intended teenage bride raised in a Mormon polygamist sect.
Chase’s most recent film appearance was the 2016 thriller “American Romance,” starring alongside John Savage. She largely stayed out of the spotlight over the last decade.
In 2009, she told Interview Magazine, “I just want to make something that I love and people will respect. I want to do things that will change someone’s life, not something they’ll forget about tomorrow.”
The sequence of reported events—admission in Los Angeles earlier this month for malnutrition. followed by meningitis and an infection in her blood reported as the cause of death on June 16—adds up to a stark. fast-moving tragedy. Even without any outside commentary. the facts reported about her health underscore how quickly infections can escalate. particularly when the body is already under strain.
For fans. her work remains vivid: the crawl from the television in “The Ring. ” the tenderness in “Lilo & Stitch. ” and the films and TV roles that followed. For the people closest to her. the last stretch of her life—hospital admission. serious infection. and death at 35—leaves an immediate. painful question of how far things had already shifted before anyone could see an exit ramp.
Daveigh Chase The Ring Lilo and Stitch meningitis malnutrition blood infection Roy Hernandez HBO Big Love MTV Movie Award Donnie Darko