---
title: "Daveigh Chase, voice of Lilo and the girl from 'The Ring,' dies at 35"
description: "Daveigh Chase, who as a child actor gave voice to the irrepressible Lilo in Disney's 'Lilo & Stitch' and chilled audiences as the ghostly Samara in 'The Ring,' has died at 35. Officials in Los Angeles said the cause was complications from AIDS."
category: "Culture"
category_url: https://newsparlor.com/category/culture
author: "James Whitmore"
published: 2026-06-29T20:08:00.000Z
updated: 2026-06-29T20:08:00.000Z
canonical: https://newsparlor.com/article/daveigh-chase-obituary-lilo-the-ring-dies-35
tags: ["obituary", "film", "television", "hollywood", "lilo-and-stitch"]
---
# Daveigh Chase, voice of Lilo and the girl from 'The Ring,' dies at 35

Daveigh Chase, who as a child actor gave voice to the irrepressible Lilo in Disney's 'Lilo & Stitch' and chilled audiences as the ghostly Samara in 'The Ring,' has died at 35. Officials in Los Angeles said the cause was complications from AIDS.

Daveigh Chase, an American actor who became one of the most recognizable young performers of the early 2000s, has died at 35. She died on June 17, and the Los Angeles County medical examiner gave the cause as complications from AIDS, with chronic substance use a contributing factor, [Variety reported](https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/daveigh-chase-cause-of-death-lilo-stitch-1236798657/), citing officials.

## Two roles, one remarkable year

Ms. Chase's reputation rests largely on two performances released in 2002, when she was still a child. She was the voice of Lilo Pelekai, the lonely, stubborn Hawaiian girl at the heart of Disney's animated hit ["Lilo & Stitch"](https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/daveigh-chase-star-ring-voice-lilo-lilo-stitch-died-aids-rcna352294/) — a character whose mix of defiance and tenderness became central to a franchise that has endured for more than two decades.

That same year, she played a very different figure: Samara Morgan, the pale, vengeful child at the center of the American horror film "The Ring." Her brief but indelible appearance helped make the movie a landmark of early-2000s horror, and she returned to the role in "The Ring Two" in 2005.

## A wider body of work

Ms. Chase worked steadily as a young actor across film and television. She appeared as Samantha Darko in the 2001 cult favorite "Donnie Darko," and for years played Rhonda Volmer in the HBO drama "Big Love," about a polygamist family in Utah. The combination — a beloved Disney heroine, an icon of horror, and a recurring role in prestige television — gave her an unusually varied footprint for a performer who first found fame so young.

## A difficult later life

Like a number of child stars, Ms. Chase found her path more turbulent in adulthood. According to news accounts, her later years were marked by personal struggles, including with substance use, and her screen work grew less frequent. Her family and former colleagues remembered the talent that had set her apart as a girl, [as reported by NBC News](https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/daveigh-chase-star-ring-voice-lilo-lilo-stitch-died-aids-rcna352294/).

## Legacy

For a generation that grew up with her work, Ms. Chase's voice is inseparable from Lilo, and her face — half-hidden behind a curtain of dark hair — from one of the era's most frightening films. Those characters, created when she was barely a teenager, ensure that her place in popular culture outlasts a life that, in its final chapter, was a hard one.