Washington (GNP): Hayden Panettiere, the actress known for her roles in the television series Heroes and Nashville, has died at the age of 36, according to a statement from her father.
Her father, Skip Panettiere, confirmed her death, describing her as an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her, as well as to the millions who watched her on screen. He asked for privacy as the family takes time to process what he called an unimaginable loss. No cause of death has been officially given.
Born in 1989, Panettiere began her acting career as a child, appearing in a toy commercial at just 11 months old before making her feature film debut as the voice of Dot in A Bug’s Life at age nine. She went on to appear in Remember the Titans in 2000 and landed her first starring role in the Disney Channel film Tiger Cruise in 2004, opposite Bill Pullman.
Panettiere rose to international fame at age 17 in the role of Claire Bennet, an indestructible cheerleader, in the NBC series Heroes, which ran for four seasons between 2006 and 2010 and became known for its recurring tagline urging viewers to save the cheerleader in order to save the world.S
he later earned two Golden Globe nominations for her performance as troubled country singer Juliette Barnes in Nashville, a role that also saw eleven of her recorded songs chart on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs list during the show’s run, including two duets with co-star Connie Britton.
She additionally appeared as Kirby Reed in the Scream franchise, featuring in both Scream 4 in 2011 and Scream VI in 2023.
In 2014, Panettiere gave birth to her daughter, Kaya Klitschko, with her former fiancé, Ukrainian heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko.
She granted full custody of their daughter to Klitschko in 2018 in order to focus on recovering from what she described as a prolonged struggle with depression, anxiety, alcoholism and substance abuse. In a 2022 interview, she reflected that she had been unable to distinguish where her alcoholism ended and her postpartum depression began, saying the period had left her running herself ragged.
Panettiere entered rehabilitation in 2015 while filming Nashville, a period that later informed elements of the show’s storylines. Speaking to People magazine in 2022, she said the years since had not been easy but that she did not regret even the most difficult chapters of her life, describing herself as feeling accomplished and grateful for what she called a second chance.
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Earlier this year, Panettiere published a memoir titled This Is Me: A Reckoning, in which she wrote candidly about the pressures of fame, postpartum depression, addiction and her path to recovery.
In the book, Hayden Panettiere described a troubling pattern she had come to recognise between acting and affection, noting that praise for her dramatic performances had led her to subconsciously associate hardship with adoration.
In a May interview with podcaster Jay Shetty, Hayden Panettiere spoke emotionally about her daughter, saying she always missed her and wished to hold her, while expressing hope that they would eventually build a close and lasting relationship.
Panettiere is survived by her father, Skip Panettiere, and her mother, Lesley Vogel, who also served as her manager during her career. Her brother, Jansen Panettiere, died suddenly in 2023 at age 28 due to an enlarged heart combined with aortic valve complications.
