Philece Sampler, Digimon and The Legend of Korra Star, Dies at 67

Philece Sampler, star on series such as Digimon Adventure and The Legend of Korra, has passed at the age of 67. Sampler was a notable actress in the world of animation, but before that she had a number of notable roles in the world of daytime television with stints on programs like Days of Our Lives, Rituals and Another World. As announced by her former Another World castmate Nelson Aspen on Instagram, Sampler has passed away from a heart attack just before she turned 68 years old. Many animation fans will also recognize her work.

Sampler most notably provided the voice for Mimi Tachikawa in the English dubbed version of the Digimon Adventure franchise, and provided her voice all the way through Mimi’s most recently English dub appearance in the Digimon Adventure tri. Sampler’s work extended to a number of other characters in the franchise as well such as Cody Hida.

Philece Sampler also provided the voice behind roles such as the older Toph we meet in the Avatar: The Last Airbender sequel The Legend of Korra, Hiyori Tamura in Lucky Star, Lori in Zatch Bell, Tsuruko Aoyama in Love Hina, Beauty in Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, Mead in The Seven Deadly Sins and more. Aspen’s statement about Sampler’s passing can be found below:

“Heartbroken to receive the call today that my dear friend, Philece Sampler, has passed away from a heart attack, just shy of her 68th birthday. That explains why I didn’t hear from her yesterday on my own birthday: we always celebrated as Cancerian siblings. She was an amazingly energetic, loving and loyal friend. I first met Philece in 1987 when we were both working on “Another World.” She joined the cast after successful runs on “Days of Our Lives” and the primetime serial “Rituals.” When I moved to LA in 1990, she generously let me live in her beautiful Hollywood Hills home and we became even closer.

So close, in fact, that we wrote several screenplays together and bred beautiful Abyssinian cats. I think that over the decade of the ’90s, I spent more time with Philece than anyone else. She was as wickedly funny as she was vivacious. Philece was always A complete original! She went on to a very successful Voice Over career and was always hopeful that “Days of Our Lives” would invite her back. Shame on them for not doing so. She was a fan favorite and one of the most hard working, diligent people I’ve ever known.

She gave 1000% to anything she did. In a fickle business like Entertainment, I’m proud that we stayed so close right up to the very end of her life. Cherish your loved ones every moment, folks. The last time we saw each other in person was right before the Covid lockdown in February of last year. I was performing my cabaret show in Los Angeles at Rockwell. Always supportive, she was there and I surprised her by singing the “Another World” theme and bringing her on stage with me. We were both in tears by the end of the song!

Philece was convinced she was the reincarnation of Anne Askew, an English writer and poet who had been put to death during the reign of Henry VIII. So I am going to be keeping a sharp eye out in case she comes back as someone new. If anyone can do it, SHE can! Farewell for now, my funny and fabulous friend and “sister from another mister.” Rest in Peace.”

Our thoughts and condolences go out to Philece Sampler’s family, friends, and loves ones in this tough time.