Hayden Panettiere, Heroes Actress, Dead At 36

Hayden Panettiere, the actor best known for her roles in television shows such as Heroes and Nashville, has passed away at the age of 36. The details around her death are unknown.

"It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden. She was 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," her father, Skip Panettiere, said in a statement.

Hayden Panettiere's Career Trajectory

He appealed for privacy “as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss.”

Beginning her career as a child artiste, Panettiere was just four years old when she was cast on the popular US soap opera One Life to Live. She rose to global stardom at the age of 17 as the invulnerable cheerleader Claire Bennet in Heroes, a series with the popular, enigmatic mantra: “Save the cheerleader, save the world.” The show was a hit and ran for four seasons between 2006 and 2010.

Panettiere also earned two Golden Globe nominations for her performance as the tortured country music star Juliette Barnes on Nashville. She also essayed Kirby Reed in the Scream horror franchise.

Earlier this year, she released a memoir titled This Is Me: A Reckoning, detailing the struggles of growing up as a child actor and her experiences with addiction, abuse and later recovery.

Panettiere is survived by her father Skip Panettiere and her mother Lesley Vogel, who is also her former manager. Panettiere’s brother, Jansen, died suddenly in 2023 at the age of 28 from cardiomegaly – an enlarged heart – coupled with aortic valve complications. Hayden was also mom to daughter Kaya, whom she shares with former fiancé Wladimir Klitschko.