Hayden Panettiere, star of Heroes and Nashville, dies aged 36
The actress, known for her roles in Heroes and Nashville, has died at 36. Her representative confirmed the news to The Guardian on Sunday night.
Hayden Panettiere, the actor best known for her roles in the television series Heroes and Nashville, has died at the age of 36. Her passing was confirmed in a statement from her representative to The Guardian on Sunday night, following initial reports on the US network ABC News. No cause of death has been provided.
Her father, Skip Panettiere, issued a statement describing her as an “incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her — and to the millions who watched her onscreen.” He requested privacy for the family as they process the loss.
Born in 1989, Panettiere began her career as an infant, appearing in a toy commercial at 11 months old. She made her big screen debut as the voice of Dot in A Bug’s Life at age nine and appeared in Remember the Titans in 2000. Her first starring role came in 2004 as the daughter of Bill Pullman’s character in the Disney Channel film Tiger Cruise.
Panettiere rose to global fame in her late teens playing Claire Bennet in Heroes, which ran for four seasons between 2006 and 2010. She later earned two Golden Globe nominations for her performance as Juliette Barnes in Nashville. She also appeared as Kirby Reed in Scream 4 in 2011 and Scream 6 in 2023.
In 2014, she gave birth to a daughter, Kaya Klitschko, with her ex-fiancé, Ukrainian heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko. Panettiere transferred full custody to Klitschko in 2018 to focus on recovering from postpartum depression and substance abuse. She had previously spoken about her struggles in a 2022 interview, stating, “I didn’t know where the alcoholism was ending and the postpartum was beginning.”
Earlier this year, Panettiere published a memoir titled This is Me: A Reckoning, which detailed her experiences with fame, addiction, and recovery. In the book, she reflected on the link between acting and adoration, writing that she had subconsciously associated catastrophe with love because directors and fans praised her dramatic responses.
Her brother, Jansen Panettiere, died suddenly in 2023 at the age of 28 from cardiomegaly and aortic valve complications.
