Hayden Panettiere, Star of ‘Heroes’, ‘Nashville’, and ‘Kingdom Hearts’ Found Dead at Age 36: ’An Incredible Light and a Force of Nature’
Her cause of death has not been made public yet.
Hayden Panettiere, the actor best known for her roles in shows like Heroes and Nashville, as well as movies such as the Scream franchise, has been found dead; she was 36.
Tributes have been pouring in for the actor ever since news of her death broke on the evening of August 16. Hayden’s father, Skip Panettiere, gave a statement to ABC on Sunday evening in which he shared the devastating news.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,” Skip said. “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.” He also asked fans for privacy, “as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss.”
Tributes from fans and co-stars who knew the actor continue to be shared online. “Hayden was nothing but nice to everyone around her,” wrote one woman who claimed to have been a background actor on Scream 4. “[I] can’t believe this my ice princesses both gone” wrote another fan, referencing Michelle Trachtenberg, who starred alongside Panettiere in Ice Princesses and also passed away last year.
Reports of Panettiere’s passing did not include a cause of death, and no other information regarding the circumstances of her death has been given thus far.
Hayden Panettiere made an impact
Despite her life being cut tragically short, Panettiere had an incredibly successful career. She began acting at just 11-months old in a toy commercial, but her big break came at the age of nine, when she voiced the Dot in Pixar’s A Bug’s Life.
Paettiere continued to land roles in successful Hollywood movies, such as Remember the Titans (2000), but she also had a strong presence on the smaller screen, appearing in TV series and TV movies. It was in the Disney Channel original movie Tiger Cruise (2004) that she landed her first starring role. She also found time to continue with her voice roles, providing the voices for iconic video game characters such as Kairi in the Kingdom Hearts franchise.
Shortly afterwards, Panettiere became a household name after appearing in arguably her most recognizable role as Claire Bennet in the TV show Heroes. The show was a major success, running for four seasons from 2006 to 2010. After the success of Heroes, Hayden Panettiere would go on to star in the fourth Scream film and later returned for the sixth in 2023.
In 2014, she gave birth to her daughter with her ex-fiancé, Wladimir Klitschko. Panettiere would later open up about her struggles with postpartum depression and alcoholism, which prompted her to enter rehab in 2015 while filming Nashville. She gave Klitschko full custody of her daughter in 2018 to focus on her recovery, as she wrote in her memoir, published earlier this year.
Hayden Panettiere is survived by her father, mother, and her daughter. Hayden’s brother Jansen passed away in 2023 due to cardiomegaly, an enlarged heart, which can lead to heart failure.
(Featured image: Paramount Pictures)
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