Hayden Panettiere, who spent two decades moving between child stardom and a resilient adult career, has died at 36, her representative confirmed Sunday. Her death comes days before what would have been her 37th birthday.
Her father, Skip Panettiere, said in a statement that the family was sharing news of her passing with profound sadness, describing her as a source of joy for everyone who knew her and the millions who watched her on screen. He asked for privacy as the family processes the loss. Representatives said an investigation into the circumstances remains ongoing, and no cause of death has been released.
Panettiere broke through as a teenager playing Claire Bennet, the self-healing cheerleader at the center of NBC’s “Heroes,” a role she carried across four seasons starting in 2006. She followed it with six seasons as aspiring country star Juliette Barnes on ABC’s “Nashville,” a performance that earned her two Golden Globe nominations. Horror fans knew her as Kirby Reed in “Scream 4” and its 2023 sequel, “Scream VI,” a character she returned to after stepping away from acting for several years.
Her career began even earlier. She voiced Princess Dot in 1998’s “A Bug’s Life,” becoming one of the youngest performers ever considered for a Grammy nomination, and later appeared in “Remember the Titans,” “Ice Princess” and “I Love You, Beth Cooper.”
Panettiere wrote candidly about the harder chapters of her life in a memoir released this past May, describing struggles with addiction, postpartum depression and domestic abuse. She had also spoken publicly about grieving her younger brother, Jansen, who died in 2023 at 28 from a heart condition.
Tributes arrived quickly from former co-stars. “Scream VI” castmate Melissa Barrera wrote on social media that she was mourning her friend, and colleagues across television and film echoed similar messages of shock and loss. Panettiere is survived by her daughter, Kaya, and her extended family.
