LOS ANGELES — Daveigh Chase, the former child actor best known as the voice of Lilo in Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” and for her chilling turn in the horror hit “The Ring,” has died at 35.
Her father, John David Schwallier, told The New York Times that Chase died from complications related to bacterial meningitis and a blood infection. He said she had been living homeless in Los Angeles with her boyfriend near the hospital where she died.
TMZ was first to report on Wednesday that Chase had died the previous day.
Chase voiced the title character in the 2002 animated film “Lilo & Stitch,” a part she landed after auditioning at just 8 years old. In the more recent live-action remake, the role of Lilo was recast with a Hawaiian actress.
In “The Ring,” also released in 2002, Chase portrayed the haunting figure Samara, a performance that earned her the MTV Movie Award for best villain.
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Chase also voiced another lead in the 2001 animated film “Spirited Away.” She had roles in the 2001 movie “Donnie Darko” and the 2003 show “Oliver Beene,” according to internet movie database IMDb.com.
She was born in Las Vegas and raised in Albany, Oregon. In her small hometown, she began singing and dancing at age 3, according to IMDb.
Chase struggled with drugs since she was 13 years old, Schwallier said in an interview with the Times. He said his daughter was estranged from her parents, who are divorced.
Schwallier said he was in touch with Chase’s boyfriend, and just before she died, arrived at the Los Angeles hospital where she was being treated.
An online fundraiser by her boyfriend raised about $4,000 as of Thursday. “Many people know her as a talented childhood actor from ‘Lilo & Stitch,’ ‘Spirited Away,’ and ‘Donnie Darko,’” the fundraiser post said. “But behind the scenes, she’s faced more than her share of hardship.”
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