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 also voiced various characters in English-language dubs of Japanese anime and animation.

Sampler's vocal range demonstrated the ability to play male roles (Cody from Digimon), old women roles (Tiptory in Eureka Seven and Toph in The Legend of Korra), and a normal voice in many roles, such as Hiyori Tamura from Lucky Star.

Sampler died at the age of 67 on July 1, 2021, after suffering a heart attack.

Spouse(s)

Brad Blaisdell  (m. 1981; div. 1986)​ Larry Dean (m. 1999)

Career

After graduating from the University of North Texas in 1975 with a drama degree, Sampler moved to Hollywood and quickly landed guest roles in a few television movies and series, including the The Incredible Hulk in season 4, episode 59 titled "Dark Side".

Sampler first made a name for herself playing Renée DuMonde on the soap Days of Our Lives. The Renee 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. The show also starred future soap stars Mary Beth Evans (Kayla, Days) and Jon Lindstrom (Kevin, GH), as well as veteran soap star Kin Shriner (ex-Scotty, GH; ex-Brian, B&B) and Tina Louise (Ginger from Gilligan's Island). 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 AW in 1989 when Stuart reclaimed the role. She had a couple of guest starring roles on TJ 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 voice over 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 well known for voicing Mimi Tachikawa in the anime series Digimon.

Dubbing and voice-over roles Animation & anime roles

• A Letter to Momo - Grandmother
• Ai Yori Aoshi - Taeko Minazuki
• Arc the Lad - Robby
• Argento Soma - Ai
• Battle B-Daman - Mie, Ms. Karat
• Berserk (2016) - Flora, Nico
• BlazBlue Alter Memory - Taokaka
• Bleach[7] - Ayame, Chizuru Honsho, Waineton (Cain's Doll)
• Blue Exorcist - Shiemi's Grandmother (Ep. 4), Ryuji Suguro (Young, Ep. 5)
• Brigadoon - Lili, Tamemi Ebichya, Wakana Konno
• Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo - Beauty
• Bottle Fairy - Sarara
• Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion - HiTV reporter (Ep. 21), Additional Voices
• Daigunder - Dr. Bridget
• Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Rokuta (ep. 1)
• Digimon Adventure - Mimi Tachikawa, Koromon (Ep. 16)
• Digimon Adventure 02 - Cody Hida, Mimi Tachikawa, Anna
• Digimon Tamers - Alice McCoy, Takato's Mom
• Digimon Frontier - Floramon, Shinya Kanbara
• Digimon Data Squad - Nanami, Thomas' Mother (Ep. 15)
• Dinozaurs - Rena
• Dragon Ball Super - Goten, Kid Goku (flashback)
• éX-Driver - Lorna Endou
• Eureka Seven[7] - Tiptory (Ep. 8-9)
• Fafner in the Azure - Kiyomi Kaname, Ikumi Nishio
• Figure 17 - Mina Sawada, Kyoko Iburagi
• Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2045 - Brenda Rucker
• Goldie & Bear - Granny (of Red Riding Hood)
• Great Teacher Onizuka - Chikako Shiari (Ep. 9-43), Hidemi Ohta, Tomoko Nomura
• .hack//Liminality - Kiyoka
• Haré+Guu - Haré
• Here is Greenwood - Sumire Hasukawa, Dorm Lady (Media Blasters dub)
• Hyōka - Female Teacher (ep 1, Funimation dub)
• Idaten Jump - Kakeru Sakamaki, Sho's Mom
• Idol Project - Layla B. Simmons
• Kill la Kill - Mataro Mankanshoku (credited as Lindsey Eaton)
• Kyo Kara Maoh - Nicola
• Last Exile[7] - Alister Agrew, Claus Valca (Young)
• The Legend of Korra - Toph Beifong (Season 4)
• Love Hina - Tsuruko Aoyama
• Lucky Star - Hiyori Tamura
• Marmalade Boy - Asst. Principal Kyoto
• Mars Daybreak - Anya
• Miraculous Ladybug - Sabine Cheng, Mrs Mendeleiv
• Mobile Suit Gundam F91 - Manuela Panopa
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans - Sakura Pretzel
• Mouse - Mei's Grandmother, Samasa Morijima
• Overman King Gainer - Elizabeth
• Please Twins - Futaba Mashita
• Requiem from the Darkness - Shiragiku, Tatsuta
• Rozen Maiden - Mitsu 'Micchan' Kusakabe
• Rurouni Kenshin - Makimachi Misao, Sakura
• Sakura Wars: The Movie - Tsubaki Takamura
• Samurai Champloo - Budokiba
• Samurai Girl Real Bout High School - Madoka Mitsurugi
• SD Gundam Force - Mayor Margaret Gathermoon, Noah
• Shinzo - Binka
• Stanley - Lester Goldberg
• Sword Art Online: Alicization - Sister Azariya
• The Incredible Hulk (1996 TV series) - Betty Ross (1997)
• The Seven Deadly Sins - Mead
• The Twelve Kingdoms - Gobo
• Tokko - Sakura Rokujo
• Transformers: Robots in Disguise - Kelly
• Tweeny Witches: The Adventures - Iga (Ep. 5)
• Ultra Maniac - Maya Orihara
• Vandread - Barnette Orangello
• Viewtiful Joe (TV series) - Silvia
• Wild Arms: Twilight Venom - Jerusha
• X - Yuzuriha Nekoi, Tokiko Magami
• Zatch Bell! - Lori

Video games

• AI: The Somnium Files - Mayumi Matsushita
• Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura - Z'an Al'urin
• BlazBlue series - Taokaka
• Blue Dragon - Child, Female Village, Devour Village Old Woman
• Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise - Mrs. Carpenter
• Shenmue III - Additional Cast

Documentary

• Adventures in Voice Acting - Herself