Hayden Panettiere has died at the age of 36. Her representative confirmed the news to ABC News on Sunday, with her father Skip Panettiere releasing a statement describing the loss as tragic and unimaginable.
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, he said. The family asked for privacy as they process the news. Further details surrounding her death were not immediately available.
A career that spanned decades
Panettiere began her career as a child actress before going on to build a body of work that touched multiple generations of viewers. She is perhaps best remembered for two defining roles: Claire Bennet in the superhero drama Heroes, and Juliette Barnes in the long-running musical series Nashville, the latter of which earned her particular acclaim and a devoted fanbase.
Her film work included Remember the Titans, Raising Helen, Ice Princess and the Scream franchise, in which she played Kirby Reed — a role she reprised as recently as the 2023 instalment. In May of this year, she published a memoir titled This Is Me: A Reckoning, in which she reflected candidly on her life from child stardom through to adulthood.
Her openness about the difficult years
Panettiere was consistently candid about the personal struggles she navigated in the years following Nashville. In a 2022 interview, she spoke about her experience with alcoholism and postpartum depression, describing the two as intertwined in ways she had difficulty separating. I did not know where the alcoholism was ending and the postpartum was beginning, she said. I ran myself pretty ragged.
She also spoke openly about the grief that followed the sudden death of her brother Jansen Panettiere in February 2023, at the age of 28, from cardiac complications. I will always be heartbroken about it, she told People. No matter how many years go by, I will never get over his loss.
She is survived by her daughter Kaya Klitschko, whom she had in 2014 with former fiancé, heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko. Kaya is 11 years old.
Featured Image: Getty
