Philece Sampler

Debra Philece Sampler (July 16, 1953 — July 1, 2021) was an American film, television and voice actress. She got her start on the serial Days of Our Lives as Renee DiMera, and the soap opera Another World as Donna Love Hudson. She has also voiced in various characters in English-language dubs of Japanese anime and animation, sometimes under the alias Dana Hayes.
Sampler's vocal range demonstrated her ability to play male roles (Cody from Digimon), old women roles (Tiptory in Eureka Seven and Toph in The Legend of Korra), as well as being able to use her normal voice in many roles, such as Hiyori Tamura from Lucky Star.
She provided the voice of Maria Renard in Castlevania Judgment and Castlevania: Harmony of Despair as a replacement of Michelle Ruff.
Sampler died at the age of 67 in 2021 after a heart attack, just prior to her 68th birthday.
==Career==
After graduating from the University of North Texas in 1975 with a drama degree, Philece went to Hollywood and quickly landed guest roles in a few TV movie and TV series, including the 1978 series The Incredible Hulk in season 4, episode 61 titled "Dark Side".
Sampler first made a name of herself playing Renée DuMonde on the soap opera Days of Our Lives. The Renée character became the focus of a major 1983 murder mystery, resulting in one of the most spectacular send-offs in daytime history. After leaving Days of our Lives in September 1983, she went on to the TV series Rituals, which ran from 1984–1985. After Rituals, Philece went on to Another World in 1986 to play Donna Love, a role she took over from originating actress Anna Stuart. She left Another World in 1989 when Stuart reclaimed the role. She had a couple guest starring roles on T. J. Hooker as Sue Ann and on Hunter as Casey. She then took a sabbatical to Japan with her then-fiance. She returned to the US with a few screenplays and formed Philman Entertainment, a production company.
Sampler worked as associate producer of the Los Angeles stage hit Sordid Lives by Del Shores. She performed in UPN's animated series, The Incredible Hulk, as the voice of Betty Ross. She remained pals with her former Days of our Lives love-interest Gregg Marx (David Banning). She performed a voiceover on Real Monsters "Ollie Ollie Oxen Free". She did a voice on Nickelodeon's Rugrats, where she played Emma (Chuckie's love interest) in the episode "He Saw, She Saw". She later voiced Francine, a character from the Rugrats spin-off series All Grown Up! and was especially well known for voicing Mimi Tachikawa and Iori/Cody Hida from Digimon Adventure, Beauty from Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, and Taokaka from BlazBlue.
==Death==
Sampler died from a heart attack in Los Angeles on July 1, 2021, at the age of 67, 15 days shy of her 68th birthday.
==Gallery==
Young Maria Renard-2.jpg|link=Maria Renard/Judgment|Maria Renard from Castlevania Judgment.
Maria - Harmony of Despair.PNG|link=Maria Renard/Harmony of Despair|Maria from Harmony of Despair.
Philece Sampler - 02.jpg
==External links==
*Anime News Network
*Behind the Voice Actors
*Find a Grave
*IMDb
Category:Deceased Staff
Category:Voice Actresses