Melissa Gilbert slammed after calling out Daveigh Chase's parents following star's death aged 35
Melissa Gilbert has been slammed after calling out child star parents following the death of Daveigh Chase.
The death of the Lilo & Stitch actress was announced last month, sending shockwaves through Hollywood as she was only 35.
It was initially believed that Chase died from sepsis after contracting meningitis, though the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has since ruled her official cause of death as AIDS.
Gilbert took to social media in the wake of the news surrounding Chase's cause of death, with a lengthy statement penned on Instagram.
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She warned people of the dangers of child stardom and how it can make parents 'lose sight of what their true responsibility is'.
Gilbert penned: "I shot a pilot for a series with her 20+ years ago. I only worked with Daveigh a couple of days, but I could see she was bright both in countenance and in mind. She was bubbly, sweet and professional.
"But there was something else there, a push or need to perform… for her parents.
"I have been around a lot of child actors, myself included, which makes us all a part of a big multigenerational tribe. As a consequence, I’ve also been around a lot of stage parents."
The Little House on the Prairie star added: "Child stardom, in itself, is not a guarantee of dysfunction. However, when a parent or parents lose sight of who THEY are, of what their true responsibility is, and their lives revolve solely around their little star child, well, that’s where the trouble begins.
"It takes strong parenting to handle all that comes with it. The terrible part is, that so few child actors continue on to have careers as actors.
"For most, it goes away, and when that happens it not only devastates the child but it turns the whole family upside down. Today, reading the circumstances of Daveigh’s death, I’m truly heartbroken."
While many praised Gilbert for shedding light on the matter, others slammed the actor, including one person who stated it 'wasn't right' to use Chase's story.
Another in the comments of the Instagram post penned: "As if you're putting all the blame to what happened on her parents?! This is wrong!"
UNILAD has reached out to Gilbert's representatives for comment.
Daveigh Chase: A timeline of her Hollywood career and personal struggles
1998
Daveigh Chase becomes an actor by accident. Her mother Cathy crashes her car while on a trip to Los Angeles from their home in Albany, Oregon.
Doctors tell Cathy she can’t drive for six months, and Daveigh is encouraged to pursue her dreams of acting while the family are stuck in L.A.
Aged eight, Chase starts to appear in small parts in shows such as Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Charmed
2001
Chase lands her breakthrough role in cult film Donnie Darko, playing Jake Gyllenhaal’s onscreen sister Samantha Darko. The character later gets her own spinoff film in 2009 titled S. Darko.
In the same year, she voices lead character Chihiro Ogino in the American dub of Studio Ghibli classic Spirited Away.
2002
Chase stars as Samara in the US remake of The Ring aged just 11, and in the same year voices Lilo in Lilo & Stitch.
Mid-2000s
Chase meets John Ryan Jr, who would later go on to manage her.
Ryan says he saw her as a ‘little sister’. After her death, he says Chase liked to drink, but wasn’t into heavy drugs. He checked her into ‘a couple rehabs back in the day’.
2009
Chase says in an Interview Magazine profile: “I just want to make something that I love and people will respect. I want to do things that will change someone’s life, not something they’ll forget about tomorrow.”
2015
According to Ryan, Chase fails to show up to a meeting with Rob Reiner about a role and effectively disappears from public life.
Ryan says she was ‘sober a while’ before she went missing.
2016
Chase injures her back following a motorbike accident and is prescribed oxycodone. Her mother Cathy believes this is how she became addicted to drugs.
February 2017
Chase is arrested on a warrant for failing to appear in court for a traffic violation. She is also questioned regarding an unidentified man’s death from an overdose after allegedly leaving him outside the hospital and leaving the scene. Chase was not accused of playing any role in his death.
November 2017
Chase is arrested again after being found in the passenger seat of a car believed to be stolen.
2018
Chase is charged with possession of a controlled substance without a valid prescription and possession of drug paraphernalia.
2025
Cathy loses contact with her daughter. Later in the year, Ryan becomes aware of a video which allegedly shows Chase on Skid Row.
He manages to get her on the phone, but by the time he gets to Skid Row she’s no longer there.
June 15 2026
A man named Roy Hernandez, who says he is Chase’s boyfriend, launches a GoFundMe for her. He writes: “Daveigh was diagnosed with meningitis and several serious blood infections. Her condition has become critical, and the doctors have told me she may not have much time left.”
Ryan later says Chase’s family did not know about Hernandez, and encourages people not to donate to the fundraiser.
June 16 2026
Chase dies at a Los Angeles hospital.
Callum Jones