Hayden Panettiere, ‘Heroes’ and ‘Nashville’ Star, Dies at 36
Authorities in Greenville, South Carolina, say an initial investigation has found no evidence of foul play or suspicious circumstances surrounding the actor’s death.
Hayden Panettiere pictured at the Hollywood Style Awards in Los Angeles in 2009. The actor has died at age 36. Photograph: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
Hayden Panettiere, the actor who rose from child stardom to become widely recognized for her performances in Heroes and Nashville, has died at the age of 36.
Panettiere had spoken candidly in recent years about postpartum depression, addiction, grief, and the personal struggles that accompanied a life spent largely in the public eye.
Her father confirmed her death Sunday night in a statement released through her representative, expressing the family’s profound grief over the sudden loss.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,” her father, Skip Panettiere, said.
An official cause and manner of death have not been announced. Panettiere’s publicist, Kasey Kitchen, said authorities were continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding her death.
“There’s an investigation ongoing,” Kitchen said. “We should know more tomorrow.”
Hayden Panettiere in 2009.Munawar Hosain / Fotos International via Getty Images
Police in Greenville, South Carolina, said officers and emergency medical personnel were called at approximately 1:50 p.m. Sunday following a report of an unresponsive woman.
Emergency medical assistance was provided after responders arrived, but Panettiere could not be revived and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Greenville Police Department said it was investigating the death alongside the Greenville County Coroner’s Office.
Authorities stressed that their preliminary investigation had uncovered no signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances. Police said an acquaintance of Panettiere made the 911 call and that no additional information was immediately available for release.
Her death brings an abrupt end to a career that began before she could even remember being in front of a camera and eventually made her one of television’s most recognizable young stars.
It also comes after a period in which Panettiere had increasingly spoken publicly about parts of her life that had once remained behind the celebrity image — including motherhood, addiction, postpartum depression, difficult relationships and profound grief.
Earlier this year, Panettiere discussed her struggles with postpartum depression and addiction and the painful circumstances surrounding her decision to give up custody of her only child, daughter Kaya Evdokia Klitschko.
Wladimir Klitschko and Panettiere in Milan in 2013.Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty Images file
Panettiere shared Kaya with her former partner, Wladimir Klitschko, the Ukrainian former professional boxer. She gave up custody in 2018 while confronting serious difficulties in her personal life.
Rather than avoiding those chapters of her story, Panettiere increasingly chose to discuss them publicly.
That openness became particularly evident with the publication of her recent memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning. The book generated headlines for its deeply personal revelations, including accounts of her relationships and the struggles she experienced away from the cameras.
Her willingness to speak about painful periods of her life also extended to the death of her younger brother, actor Jansen Panettiere.
Jansen died unexpectedly in 2023 from an undiagnosed heart condition, leaving his sister struggling with a devastating loss.
Speaking in 2024 about her grief, Panettiere described what it meant to suddenly lose someone who had been present throughout virtually every significant chapter of her life.
“When you lose somebody that you saw in all the important moments in your life, standing right next to you, it just rocks your world,” she told NBC’s TODAY show.
Hayden Panettiere and Jansen Panettiere in Los Angeles in 2019.Amanda Edwards / Getty Images
It was another deeply personal moment from an actor whose life had unfolded, to an unusual degree, in public.
Born and raised in Palisades, New York, roughly 40 miles north of New York City, Panettiere entered the entertainment industry extraordinarily early.
According to her Television Academy biography, she began working at just 11 months old, appearing in television commercials.
By the age of 4, acting had become part of her childhood.
She appeared in soap operas including One Life to Live and Guiding Light, gaining professional experience years before most children had even begun thinking about careers.
Hayden Panettiere appeared with Denzel Washington in the 2000 film “Remember the Titans.”Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
Her work soon expanded beyond daytime television.
Panettiere provided the voice of the young ant princess Dot in the animated film A Bug’s Life, introducing her voice to millions of moviegoers.
As she grew older, larger film roles followed.
She appeared in Remember the Titans, Ice Princess, and Bring It On: All or Nothing, gradually making the difficult transition from child performer to adult actor.
Television, however, would provide two of the defining roles of her career.
In the 2000s, Panettiere became internationally recognizable as Claire Bennet in Heroes, the hit television drama about ordinary people discovering extraordinary abilities.
Claire, a high school cheerleader capable of regenerating after severe injuries, quickly became one of the series’ signature characters.
The role helped transform Panettiere from a successful young actor into a television star.
But another defining performance was still ahead.
From ‘Heroes’ to ‘Nashville’
Connie Britton as Rayna Jaymes and Hayden Panettiere as Juliette Barnes in “Nashville.”Chris Hollo / Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
Panettiere later took on the role of Juliette Barnes in Nashville, portraying a country music star whose ambition, vulnerability and complicated personal life became central to the series.
Her performance earned her two Golden Globe nominations.
For Panettiere, however, the years spent filming Nashville were accompanied by difficulties far removed from the glamour associated with a successful television series.
During that period, she became a mother and experienced postpartum depression.
She later described the intense anxiety and panic attacks she experienced and how substance use became a way of attempting to cope.
Speaking during an emotional appearance on the Jay Shetty Podcast in May, Panettiere said those struggles contributed to her turning to substances.
“That’s why I turned to substances — because the anxiety that I started having, the panic attacks that I started having,” she said.
Hayden Panettiere on Tuesday, September 24, 2024.Nathan Congleton/NBC/Getty Images
Panettiere had long wanted to become a mother. But after the birth of her daughter, she said the reality she experienced was dramatically different from the picture she had imagined.
“I had this beautiful plan in my head, and then I had my daughter, and I knew something was just terribly, terribly wrong,” she said.
She described being miserable and frequently in tears.
Alcohol, she said, initially appeared to quiet her nervous system. But the temporary relief ultimately deepened her problems.
“Even though the alcohol helped my nervous system calm down, it is a depressant, so over time it made things worse, not better,” she said.
Her struggle eventually affected one of the most important relationships in her life — the relationship with her daughter.
After giving up custody of Kaya to Klitschko, Panettiere lived apart from her child.
Yet she repeatedly emphasized that physical distance had not diminished her love for her daughter or her hope for their future together.
Speaking with Shetty, she described the bond she felt with Kaya and the pain of not having her physically beside her.
“I will always want her here. I always miss her,” Panettiere said. “I always want to have my arms wrapped around her, but that’s just not the way life is right at this moment.”
Despite that reality, she remained hopeful.
Panettiere said she believed the future could bring a different chapter for mother and daughter — one in which they could build not only a parent-child relationship but also a lasting friendship.
“I have faith that she is going to come to me and that we’re going to have an incredible relationship and bond and friendship that a lot of parents don’t get to have with their kids,” she said.
In 2018, the same year Nashville concluded its six-season run, Panettiere sold her home in the city that had become closely associated with one of the most significant roles of her career.
Her life and career would continue to evolve, but her performances as Claire Bennet and Juliette Barnes remained defining parts of her legacy.
Hollywood Mourns Panettiere
News of Panettiere’s death prompted tributes from across the entertainment industry.
SAG-AFTRA, the actors union of which Panettiere had been a member since 1994, expressed its condolences following her death.
“We join in mourning the sudden passing of Hayden Panettiere,” the union said. “Our hearts are with her daughter, family, friends and fans.”
Viola Davis, who appeared alongside Panettiere in the 2016 film Custody, remembered her former co-star and praised both her talent and the personal journey she had witnessed.
Davis described Panettiere as an “amazing talent” and reflected on the person she believed Panettiere was becoming.
“I wish the world had more time with you because I had a burning curiosity about who you were becoming,” Davis wrote on Instagram.
Davis described seeing “this beautiful Phoenix rising from the ashes,” adding that Panettiere’s trials had become part of the testimony and legacy she left behind.
“You will be remembered,” Davis wrote.
Actor Emme Rylan, who appeared with Panettiere in Bring It On: All or Nothing, also responded publicly to her death.
“So very sad,” Rylan wrote on Instagram. “Rest in peace, sweet soul.”
Kelly Osbourne described herself as “deeply saddened” by the death of someone she said had meant a great deal to her.
Osbourne reflected particularly on the experience she and Panettiere shared of growing up under intense public attention.
“We understood each other in a way few truly can — recognizing how difficult it is to grow up in the spotlight, and how isolating it can feel even when surrounded by so many people,” Osbourne wrote.
She remembered Panettiere as a good friend.
Brit Shaw, who guest-starred on Nashville, described the news as a shock and remembered the warmth Panettiere brought to the set.
“She had this way of making you feel at home,” Shaw wrote on Instagram.
Shaw said that from the moment she arrived on the Nashville set, Panettiere made her feel that she belonged.
“We had so many good times together, and I’ll always be grateful for them,” she wrote.
Alyson Stoner also expressed grief over Panettiere’s death.
Stoner succeeded Panettiere as the English-language voice of Kairi in the Kingdom Hearts video game franchise and invoked the connection between their characters in an emotional tribute.
“From one Kairi to another… One sky, one destiny,” Stoner wrote.
Stoner offered condolences to Panettiere’s family, community, and the many people touched by her life and career.
Panettiere’s impact extended beyond television and film.
District of Columbia shadow Sen. Paul Strauss shared a photograph of himself with Panettiere and said he was “devastated” by news of her death.
Strauss remembered her not simply as an entertainer but as someone willing to use her celebrity to support causes she considered important.
“Hayden was a special person who always tried to use her platform for causes she believed in,” Strauss wrote.
He cited her advocacy for whale protection and D.C. statehood among the causes to which she devoted her time and public profile.
“A special soul gone way too soon,” Strauss wrote.
Environmental and animal-welfare advocacy had long been part of Panettiere’s public life.
She served as a spokesperson for the Whaleman Foundation, an ocean conservation organization, and appeared in The Cove, the 2010 Academy Award-winning documentary examining dolphin hunting and slaughter.
Her advocacy also earned her the Genesis Wyler Award from the Humane Society, according to the Television Academy.
It represented another dimension of a public life that had begun when Panettiere was still an infant.
She spent more than three decades before audiences — first in commercials, then soap operas, animated films, major motion pictures and eventually some of television’s most recognizable dramas.
But in the later chapters of her life, Panettiere increasingly allowed audiences to see something beyond the performer.
She spoke openly about addiction. She discussed postpartum depression. She talked about motherhood and separation from her daughter. She confronted the grief of losing her younger brother. And through her memoir and interviews, she attempted to tell the story behind the public image that had followed her since childhood.
Her death at 36 leaves many of those chapters painfully unfinished.
For her family, however, the defining memory is not simply of the actor millions watched on television and movie screens.
It is of the person behind those performances.
“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 said.
Authorities in Greenville continue to investigate Panettiere’s death. As of the initial police statement, investigators had reported no evidence of foul play or suspicious circumstances, and an official cause of death had not been publicly announced.
I’ve just been rewatching Heroes for the last couple weeks, just finished last night actually. So this is hitting a bit harder. 🤍
Yeah I spent almost all last night crying. My heart hurts.