‘Little House on the Prairie Star’ Cautions Parents of Child Actors to Keep Them Safe

As a child, Daveigh Chase had a promising career in Hollywood. At just 11 years old, she terrified audiences as Samara Morgan in 2003’s The Ring. A year earlier, she voiced Hawaiian girl Lilo Peleka in the iconic Disney animated film Lilo & Stitch. Daveigh’s career slowed, and sadly, she slipped into addiction. She died on June 16, 2026, from AIDS and substance abuse issues at just 35 years old. Former child star Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura Ingalls Wilder on Little House on the Prairie, spoke out following Daveigh’s death. She urged parents to ensure their children’s dreams match their own.

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Melissa Gilbert shared a heartbreaking social media post about her brief relationship with Daveigh Chase. The pair worked together on a pilot when Daveigh was a little girl. According to Melissa, her future seemed bright.

“Many child actors grow up just fine, whether they stay in ‘the business’ or not. That is 100% due to really solid, wise parenting. 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,” Melissa explained.

Daveigh Chase’s death broke Melissa Gilbert’s heart. She shared that if she had the chance to talk to parents interested in getting their child into acting, she would ensure they were doing so for the right reasons.

“That they will take the child to an accountant regularly so that he or she knows exactly what he or she is making, and where it is going. To be sure it’s something the child really wants. To be sure that that child has a life outside of the industry that is thriving and full of friends and responsibilities and ‘normal things.’ I would also ask that these parents memorize this sweet girl’s face and her story so that it never happens again,” she shared alongside a photo of Daveigh.

“Your message is so important to all stage parents out there,” a fan commented.

This story’s featured image is by Bruce Glikas/Getty Images