Daveigh Chase(1990-2026)

Daveigh Chase was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. She was raised in the small town of Albany, Oregon, where she spent much of her time. She began singing and dancing in her hometown and other local areas at community events and shows starting at age 3.

After visiting Los Angeles, she did her first commercial for Campbell's Soup at age 7. At this time, she was also offered a starring role in the Musical Theatre production "Utah!" At age 8, she auditioned for the the voice of Lilo and tested at CBS network for her first television series. She continued to test and be cast as a series regular, working on many different television pilots, before FOX finally picked up the show Oliver Beene (2003), in which Daveigh starred as Oliver's quirky best friend Joyce.

In the meantime, Chase appeared in several movies, including Donnie Darko (2001), in which she played Donnie's youngest sister and was a member of the Sparkle Motion dance group; and "R.L. Stine's The Haunted Lighthouse," which continues to be shown at various Busch Garden Theme Parks. In 2003, she won the Best Villain award at the MTV Movie Awards for her work as Samara in DreamWorks' hit The Ring (2002).

She was the voice of Lilo from the hit animated and Oscar-nominated Disney feature film Lilo & Stitch (2002), and she continued to voice Lilo in the Disney Channel series, as well as various DVDs and video games. Daveigh was also cast as the English-language voice of the lead heroine Chihiro in Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away (2001) (aka Spirited Away), which won the 2002 Oscar for Best Animated Film.

Daveigh was also a very talented singer. Back in 1999, she had the opportunity to join up as lead singer with a small band and take the stage as an opening act for Reba McEntire and, later on, sang "Holly Jolly Christmas" for the "School's Out! Christmas" album released by Hip-O/Universal Records, which also features the voices of other child stars, including Mae Whitman, Evan Rachel Wood, Jesse McCartney, and others.

She was handpicked by director Steven Spielberg to sing "God Bless America" in his film A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001); and in the Oliver Beene (2003) episode, titled Oliver & the Otters (2004), Daveigh was given the opportunity to showcase her talent by singing the hit 1960s song "Tossin' and Turnin'." She had since recorded four original songs.

Outside of the entertainment industry, some of Daveigh's favorite activities were surfing, horseback riding, dancing, reading, and just hanging out with family and friends.

Unfortunately, mental illness and drug addiction were constants in Chase's life. Tragically, she died destitute and homeless of AIDS while living in a tent with a boyfriend in Los Angeles, California.