Lorna Raver, best known for her role as Mrs. Ganush in the 2009 horror film Drag Me To Hell, has died at the age of 81. Her death on May 12, 2025, was confirmed in SAG-AFTRA's Summer 2025 magazine's In Memoriam section.
Her talent agent Michael Greene paid tribute, saying: 'She will go to Heaven! Not dragged to Hell. She was an incredible lady and artist. A true Chameleon - was the complete opposite of this character in real life.' Greene also noted that Raver was chosen over another client, Anna Berger, because Berger was 'too fragile to fly around in a harness'.
Raver, who retired from acting in 2014, admitted she was not a horror fan before taking on her most memorable role. She told Dread Central: 'Originally I only read the bank scene, which seemed ordinary enough. Then, when I finally got the full script, I realised just how over the top most of the movie was.'
Early in her career, Raver appeared in shows such as Opportunity Knocks, The Young and the Restless, Ally McBeal, Boston Legal, ER, Saved By The Bell: The New Class, NYPD Blue, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy and Charmed.
Reflecting on her career in 2011, she said: 'I can't say exactly why I wanted to become an actor – the yen was just always there. It was only after I became an actor that I learned what I love about it. I love the chance to live multiple lives and I'm stimulated by the work of developing the discipline, skill and openness one needs in order to inhabit those other lives.'
