Lorna Raver, the American actress best known for her chilling roles in horror films, has passed away at the age of 81.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Raver died on May 12, 2025. News of her death surfaced through the “In Memoriam” section of SAG-AFTRA’s Summer 2025 magazine. No official cause of death has been disclosed.
With over 50 screen credits, Raver had a prolific career primarily in television, but she gained widespread recognition for her performances in supernatural thrillers—most notably in Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell (2009) and Matthew Parkhill’s The Caller (2009).
In Drag Me to Hell, Raver portrayed the menacing Sylvia Ganush, an elderly woman who curses a bank-loan officer, triggering a terrifying chain of events. Reflecting on the role in Jason Norman’s 2014 book Welcome to Our Nightmares, Raver said, “What I liked about the character was that she was powerful.”
Beyond the screen, Raver was an accomplished stage actress and audiobook narrator. She was also known for her role on the long-running soap opera The Young and the Restless. Her final film appearance was in Rushlights (2013), after which she retired from acting in 2014.
Born in Pennsylvania, Raver was married to radio writer and producer Yuri Rasovsky from 1987 until his death in 2012.
