Lilo & Stitch voice actress Daveigh Chase dies aged 35

Actress Daveigh Chase, who voiced Lilo in Disney's animated film Lilo & Stitch, has died aged 35.

Her father, John David Schwallier, told the New York Times that Chase died in a hospital in Los Angeles from complications of bacterial meningitis and a blood infection.

Chase was 11 when Lilo & Stitch was released in 2002 and became a box office success. She continued to voice the character in television and video game projects connected to the franchise.

She also provided the English-language voice of Chihiro, the lead character in Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away, which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

Chase’s early career included live-action roles. She appeared as Samantha Darko, the younger sister of Jake Gyllenhaal’s character in Donnie Darko, and later reprised the role in S. Darko.

She was also known for playing Samara Morgan in the 2002 horror film The Ring.

The character, remembered for crawling out of a television with her long black hair covering her face, became one of the most recognisable horror figures of the early 2000s.

Chase won the Best Villain prize at the 2003 MTV Movie Awards for the role.

Her television credits included a recurring role as Rhonda Volmer in the HBO drama Big Love.

Lilo & Stitch has remained one of Disney’s best-known animated films of the 2000s and was followed by a television series, direct-to-video sequels and a live-action remake released in 2025.

Source: AFP