Daveigh Chase was an American actress and voice performer whose career began when she was a child and quickly developed into a collection of memorable film, television, and animation roles. She became widely recognized as the voice of Lilo Pelekai in Disney’s Lilo & Stitch, while horror audiences remember her as Samara Morgan in The Ring. She also voiced Chihiro in the English-language version of Spirited Away and appeared in projects such as Donnie Darko and HBO’s Big Love.
Chase’s story received renewed attention in 2026 following her death at the age of 35. Her career had slowed considerably after the 2000s, and later reports described serious struggles in her personal life. Official records released after her death provided information that corrected some of the initial reporting about the circumstances of her passing.
Quick Bio Information About Daveigh Chase
| Detail | Information |
| Full name | Daveigh Elizabeth Chase-Schwallier |
| Professional name | Daveigh Chase |
| Born | July 24, 1990 |
| Birthplace | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA |
| Raised in | Albany, Oregon |
| Died | June 16, 2026 |
| Age at death | 35 |
| Nationality | American |
| Profession | Actress and voice actress |
| Years active | 1998–2016 |
| Best known for | Lilo in Lilo & Stitch and Samara in The Ring |
| Other notable role | Chihiro in the English dub of Spirited Away |
| Television role | Rhonda Volmer in Big Love |
| Parents | Cathy Chase and John David Schwallier |
| Height | Reported as 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) by IMDb |
| 2026 estate | Approximately $400,000 in personal property |
| Marital status | No reliable evidence of a marriage |
| Children | No reliable public confirmation |
| Date of death | June 16, 2026 |
| Official cause of death | Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) |
| Manner of death | Natural |
Who Was Daveigh Chase?
Daveigh Chase was a child performer who successfully worked across several different areas of entertainment. Her credits included live-action movies, television dramas, animated films, and voice performances.
Her most recognizable work arrived around the beginning of the 2000s. In a relatively short period, she became associated with three very different characters: Lilo in Disney’s Lilo & Stitch, Chihiro in the English dub of Spirited Away, and Samara in The Ring. Those roles gave her a distinctive place in early-2000s pop culture.
She later moved into more mature television work, particularly through her recurring role as Rhonda Volmer on HBO’s Big Love. Her professional career eventually became quieter, with her last credited work appearing in 2016.
Early Life
Daveigh Chase was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 24, 1990. Her family later moved to Albany, Oregon, where she spent part of her childhood.
According to biographical information reported by IMDb and other entertainment databases, Chase showed an interest in performing from a very young age. She sang and danced at local events and began pursuing professional opportunities while still a child.
Her early experience included commercials and stage work. That background eventually helped her make the transition to television and film.
Beginning of Her Acting Career
Chase’s professional screen career began in the late 1990s.
One of her early television appearances was on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch in 1998. She subsequently appeared in popular television programs including Charmed, ER, and The Practice.
These early appearances were important because they allowed Chase to gain experience before she received the roles that would make her internationally recognizable. She also appeared in the 1999 thriller Her Married Lover, which became one of her earliest film credits.
Donnie Darko
One of Chase’s early film roles came in Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko.
Released in 2001, the film starred Jake Gyllenhaal as the troubled title character. Chase played Samantha Darko, Donnie’s younger sister.
Although Donnie Darko was not an immediate mainstream blockbuster, it eventually developed a strong cult following. Chase’s involvement in the movie became an early indication that her career was moving beyond conventional child-actor roles.
She later returned to the character for S. Darko, the 2009 follow-up.
Lilo & Stitch
The role that brought Chase to a much larger audience was Lilo Pelekai in Disney’s Lilo & Stitch. The animated movie arrived in 2002 and followed Lilo, a young girl living in Hawaii, after she encounters Stitch, an unusual alien creature who becomes part of her family.
Chase provided Lilo’s English voice and subsequently returned to the character in other Disney productions. The Television Academy identifies the role as one of the central achievements of her career. Her performance helped establish her as a successful voice actor rather than simply a young performer appearing on screen.
Why Lilo Became Her Signature Role
Lilo was very different from many conventional animated protagonists.
She was energetic, unusual, emotional, and independent, while her relationship with her older sister Nani gave the movie much of its emotional foundation. Chase’s voice performance helped create that distinctive personality.
The success of Lilo & Stitch also gave her continuing work in the franchise. She later voiced Lilo for Lilo & Stitch: The Series and related productions.
For many viewers, this remained the role most closely associated with Chase throughout her life.
Spirited Away
Chase also became part of another major animated film when she voiced Chihiro Ogino in the English-language version of Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. The original Japanese production became an international critical success, and the English dub introduced the story to another large audience.
The film eventually won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 2003 Oscars. Chase’s involvement in both Spirited Away and Lilo & Stitch placed her among the voice performers connected with two especially influential animated movies of the period.
The Ring
In the same period, Chase took on a completely different kind of role.
She portrayed Samara Morgan in the 2002 American horror movie The Ring. The character was a mysterious and frightening young girl whose image became central to the movie’s identity.
The performance was striking because Chase was only a child when she played the role. Instead of relying heavily on dialogue, the character’s disturbing appearance, movement, and atmosphere created much of the fear surrounding Samara.
The role became one of the defining horror performances of the early 2000s.
MTV Movie Award
Chase’s work in The Ring earned her significant recognition.
At the 2003 MTV Movie Awards, she won the award for Best Villain for her portrayal of Samara Morgan. This was a notable achievement for a young performer because she was competing in a category generally dominated by established adult actors.
Her performance therefore became more than simply a successful horror role; it was one of the accomplishments that helped define her early career.
A Child Actor With Unusual Range
What made Chase’s early career unusual was the contrast between her best-known characters.
Lilo was a warm, eccentric animated child at the center of a family story. Chihiro was the young protagonist of a fantasy adventure. Samara, meanwhile, was an intentionally terrifying supernatural figure.
The roles required completely different approaches to performance.
Her ability to move between these projects helped her establish a broader reputation during a relatively short period of time.
Big Love
As Chase grew older, she began taking on more mature television roles.
One of her most important television credits was Rhonda Volmer in HBO’s Big Love. The series followed a complicated family living within a fictionalized polygamist community.
Chase appeared as Rhonda, a manipulative and ambitious teenager whose storyline became part of the show’s wider drama. The Television Academy lists Big Love among her notable television work, while later reporting notes that she appeared in more than 30 episodes of the HBO series.
The role showed that Chase was no longer limited to child-oriented projects.
Oliver Beene
Chase also appeared in the Fox television series Oliver Beene.
The period sitcom followed a young boy growing up in the 1960s, with Chase among the show’s recurring performers. Her television work during this period helped maintain her visibility between film projects and demonstrated her ability to work in ensemble productions.
Other Film Work
Chase continued appearing in movies throughout the 2000s and early 2010s.
Her credits included the Donnie Darko follow-up S. Darko, as well as independent productions such as Yellow, Little Red Wagon, Jack Goes Home, and American Romance.
These later projects were generally much smaller than The Ring or Lilo & Stitch. Her career had become less prominent than it had been during her childhood and teenage years. The Los Angeles Times reported that her career slowed after her work on Big Love, with later appearances mainly coming through lower-profile productions.
Her Final Acting Years
Chase’s entertainment career gradually became less active.
Her last credited work came in 2016, the same year that she was involved in the independent thriller American Romance and provided voice work for the video game Let It Die. The Los Angeles Times identifies the video game credit as her final professional credit.
After that point, she largely disappeared from the entertainment industry.
This meant that fans who remembered her from Lilo & Stitch or The Ring had very little reliable information about her life during the following years.
Personal Life
Chase generally kept her private life away from the public eye.
Her parents were Cathy Chase and John David Schwallier, who later divorced. Her father spoke publicly after her death about her struggles during her later years.
There were also reports identifying Roy Hernandez as her boyfriend near the end of her life. Because much of the information about her private relationships comes from individuals speaking to entertainment publications, it is better to avoid presenting unsupported relationship claims as established facts.
There is no strong evidence from major sources that Chase was married or had children.
Daveigh Chase and Substance-Use Struggles
The later part of Chase’s life was marked by serious personal difficulties.
Her father told The New York Times, as reported by the Associated Press and Washington Post, that she had struggled with drugs from her teenage years. Later reporting also described periods of homelessness in Los Angeles.
People later reported additional accounts from family members and friends about addiction and the difficulties surrounding her final years. Some details differ between accounts, so those statements should be treated as individual recollections rather than a single uncontested narrative.
The circumstances underline the difference between Chase’s highly visible childhood career and the much more difficult period she experienced as an adult.
Daveigh Chase’s Death
Daveigh Chase died on June 16, 2026, at the age of 35.
Initial reports stated that she had died following complications involving bacterial meningitis and a blood infection. That information came from her father and people close to her at the time.
Later, the official medical examiner’s findings provided a different and more definitive cause.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner determined that the cause of death was acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The report also listed chronic polysubstance use as a significant condition. The manner of death was classified as natural.
This official finding is more authoritative than the initial reports released immediately after her death.
Her Final Days
According to reporting after her death, Chase had been experiencing severe health and personal difficulties before her final hospitalization. The Associated Press reported that she had been living without stable housing in Los Angeles and that her boyfriend was in contact with her during the final period of her life.
People also reported that she had been hospitalized earlier in June for malnutrition before being hospitalized again. Because the details of a person’s final health period are sensitive, the most reliable approach is to rely on the official medical examiner’s findings rather than repeating every unverified detail circulated online.
Daveigh Chase’s Estate
A major 2026 development came after probate documents were filed in Los Angeles County.
According to the Los Angeles Times, documents filed in July 2026 indicated that Chase left approximately $400,000 in personal property. The filing stated that she did not leave a will and that no real property was listed in the estate.
E! News independently reported the same approximate figure from probate documents.
It is important to distinguish this figure from a conventional celebrity net worth estimate. The $400,000 figure refers to the personal property identified in the probate filing; it should not automatically be described as her lifetime net worth.
Estate Proceedings
The absence of a will resulted in probate proceedings.
Her mother, Cathy Chase, petitioned to administer the estate. Later reports described disagreement over who should control the estate, including objections raised by her father and others connected with Chase.
Because probate disputes involve legal filings and competing positions, claims made by individual parties should not be treated as final findings unless a court establishes them.
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Daveigh Chase’s Height
IMDb lists Chase at approximately 5 feet 7 inches, or 1.70 meters.
Although height is a relatively minor part of her biography, this figure is commonly included in entertainment databases. It should still be treated as a database-reported statistic rather than a central biographical fact.
Awards and Recognition
Chase received recognition for her work while she was still young.
Her documented achievements include an Annie Award for voice performance connected with Lilo & Stitch and the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain for The Ring. Her early work also earned recognition through young-performer awards.
These awards reflected the unusual range of her performances at the beginning of her career.
Daveigh Chase’s Legacy
Chase’s legacy is closely tied to a handful of productions that have remained popular long after their original releases. For animation fans, she remains associated with Lilo. For horror audiences, her name is strongly connected with Samara. Fans of Japanese animation know her as the English voice of Chihiro in Spirited Away, while followers of cult cinema may remember her as Samantha Darko. The contrast between these performances is perhaps the clearest demonstration of her abilities as a young performer.
Why Daveigh Chase Remained Memorable
Many child actors become associated with one successful project and then disappear from public attention. Chase was different because several of her childhood projects became enduring cultural properties.
Lilo & Stitch became a major Disney franchise. The Ring became one of the best-known American horror remakes of its era. Spirited Away became an internationally acclaimed animated classic, while Donnie Darko developed a devoted cult audience. As a result, Chase’s work continued to be rediscovered by new viewers even after she had stopped acting.
A Career That Changed Direction
Chase’s career illustrates how unpredictable the transition from child performer to adulthood can be.
Her early years were filled with prominent projects and awards. She had already worked with Disney, appeared in major films, and joined a major HBO television series before reaching adulthood. Later, however, her professional output decreased substantially. By 2016, her acting and voice work had largely stopped.
Her later life was then shaped more by personal difficulties than by entertainment.
Important Facts About Daveigh Chase
- Daveigh Chase was born July 24, 1990, in Las Vegas.
- She was raised in Albany, Oregon.
- She began performing as a child.
- Her first television appearance was on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.
- She played Samantha Darko in Donnie Darko.
- She voiced Lilo in Lilo & Stitch.
- She voiced Chihiro in the English version of Spirited Away.
- She played Samara Morgan in The Ring.
- She won an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain for The Ring.
- She appeared as Rhonda Volmer on Big Love.
- Her final credited entertainment work came in 2016.
- She died on June 16, 2026, at age 35.
- The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner later listed AIDS as the cause of death.
- Chronic polysubstance use was listed as a significant condition.
- Her manner of death was classified as natural.
- Probate documents reported approximately $400,000 in personal property.
- She died without a will, according to the probate documents.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Daveigh Chase?
Daveigh Chase was an American actress and voice actress best known for voicing Lilo in Lilo & Stitch and playing Samara Morgan in The Ring. She also voiced Chihiro in the English-language version of Spirited Away.
When was Daveigh Chase born?
She was born on July 24, 1990, in Las Vegas, Nevada. She was raised in Albany, Oregon.
What was Daveigh Chase famous for?
Her most recognizable performances were Lilo in Lilo & Stitch and Samara in The Ring. Her other important credit was Chihiro in Spirited Away.
Did Daveigh Chase play Samara in The Ring?
Yes. Chase portrayed Samara Morgan in the 2002 American horror film The Ring. The role earned her the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.
Did Daveigh Chase voice Lilo?
Yes. She was the original English voice of Lilo Pelekai in Disney’s 2002 animated film Lilo & Stitch and continued voicing the character in later Disney productions.
Final Thoughts
Daveigh Chase’s career was remarkably accomplished for someone who began working in entertainment as a child. Before turning 13, she had already become the voice of Lilo in Lilo & Stitch and portrayed Samara in The Ring. She also contributed to Spirited Away and Donnie Darko, giving her an unusually diverse collection of early credits. Her later work on Big Love demonstrated that she could transition into more mature television roles, but her professional career eventually became much quieter. Her final credited work came in 2016, after which she largely disappeared from the entertainment world.
Daveigh death in June 2026 brought renewed attention to both her achievements and the difficult circumstances surrounding her final years. Initial reports focused on meningitis and a blood infection, but the subsequent Los Angeles County Medical Examiner report identified AIDS as the official cause of death and chronic polysubstance use as a significant condition.
For fans, however, Daveigh Chase’s lasting legacy remains her work. Lilo, Samara, Chihiro, and Samantha Darko are very different characters, yet each helped make her performances recognizable to different generations. Her career may have ended earlier than expected, but those performances continue to give her a lasting place in film, television, animation, and horror history.
