Former child actress Daveigh Chase, best known as the voice of Lilo in Disney’s animated hit Lilo & Stitch, has died at the age of 35. According to US media reports, she passed away on Tuesday in Los Angeles.
Her father, John David Schwallier, told The New York Times that she died in a hospital after complications linked to bacterial meningitis and a blood infection.
Schwallier said his daughter faced personal struggles from a young age, including drug-related issues that began when she was 13.
In later years, she reportedly experienced homelessness and had been living in Los Angeles near the medical facility where she died.
Chase rose to fame as a child actor aged 11, when Lilo & Stitch became a major box office success in 2002.
She went on to reprise the role of Lilo in related television series and video game adaptations.
Beyond Disney, she voiced Chihiro in the English-language version of Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away, which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and remains one of the most acclaimed animated films of all time.
Her on-screen career also included a Campbell’s Soup commercial and a role in Donnie Darko, where she played the younger sister of Jake Gyllenhaal’s character.
One of her most widely recognised live-action roles came in the 2002 horror film The Ring, in which she portrayed Samara Morgan, the eerie antagonist known for emerging from a television set. Her performance earned her the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain in 2003.
According to TMZ, Chase’s boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, set up a fundraising page to help cover medical expenses, saying she had endured significant personal challenges, including estrangement from family and periods of instability in Los Angeles.
She leaves behind a body of work that defined parts of a generation’s childhood, alongside a life marked by private struggles away from the spotlight.