American actor Daveigh Chase, best known for her chilling role as the ghostly figure Samara in ‘The Ring’ and as the voice of Lilo in ‘Lilo & Stitch’, has died at the age of 35, her longtime manager confirmed.

Her manager John Ryan Jr. told BBC News that Chase died on Tuesday from complications linked to meningitis, which developed into a bloodstream infection and later sepsis. He also said she had earlier been hospitalised due to malnourishment.

Ryan, who worked with her for 15 years, described her as a private person who stayed away from Hollywood’s spotlight. “She was the greatest. She loved cats,” he said, adding that she often spent long periods at home in Las Vegas and preferred independent projects over big studio films.

“She was not very Hollywood,” he said. “She’d rather eat at Bob’s Big Boy and go home with the cats. She loved acting but wasn’t into the fame scene.”

Chase rose to fame in 2002 with her breakout role as Samara Morgan in the horror film ‘The Ring’, a remake of the Japanese classic about a cursed videotape. Her performance as the eerie, long-haired ghost crawling out of a television became one of the film’s most iconic images.

She later won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain in 2003 for the role. Reflecting on the character at the time, Chase said she enjoyed playing something so unusual and dark, telling the Los Angeles Times that she gave the role her own creative twist.

In the same year, she voiced Lilo, a young Hawaiian girl, in Disney’s animated hit ‘Lilo & Stitch’. The role earned her an Annie Award for voice acting, and she continued to reprise the character in later spin-offs.

Chase also appeared in several television series, including ‘Charmed’, ‘ER’, and ‘Touched by an Angel’. She had a recurring role in HBO’s ‘Big Love’, where she played Rhonda Volmer over 32 episodes.

Source: NDTV