Actress Hayden Panettiere, who grew from a child performer into one of television’s most recognizable stars through roles in Heroes and Nashville, has died. She was 36.
Panettiere’s representative confirmed her death Sunday, Aug. 16, to ABC News. Her father, Skip Panettiere, also confirmed the news in a family statement, remembering his daughter as a powerful presence who brought love and joy to the people around her and to audiences who followed her career.
A cause of death has not been publicly disclosed. The Associated Press reported that no cause had been announced as of early Monday. TMZ reported that law enforcement responded to an incident involving Panettiere on Sunday and that an investigation was open, but authorities had not publicly announced findings about the circumstances surrounding her death.
A career that began in childhood
Born Aug. 21, 1989, in New York, Panettiere entered show business at an extraordinarily young age. She appeared in commercials as a toddler before moving into television, including roles on the daytime dramas One Life to Live and Guiding Light.
Her early film work introduced her to an even wider audience. She provided the voice of Dot in Disney and Pixar’s A Bug’s Life and appeared in the 2000 football drama Remember the Titans. Other film credits included Raising Helen, Ice Princess and I Love You, Beth Cooper.
But it was television that transformed Panettiere into a household name.
In 2006, she debuted as Claire Bennet on NBC’s Heroes, playing a high school cheerleader who discovers she possesses extraordinary regenerative abilities. Her character became central to the series and its famous phrase, “Save the cheerleader, save the world.” The role helped make Panettiere one of the defining young television stars of the era.
She later demonstrated another side of her talent as country singer Juliette Barnes on ABC’s Nashville. Panettiere starred on the musical drama from 2012 to 2018, earning two Golden Globe nominations for her performance.
Panettiere also became familiar to horror audiences through the Scream franchise, portraying fan-favorite Kirby Reed in Scream 4 and eventually returning to the character years later in Scream VI.
Speaking publicly about difficult chapters
Away from the screen, Panettiere increasingly used her public platform to discuss some of the most difficult periods of her life.
She spoke candidly over the years about alcoholism, addiction and postpartum depression following the 2014 birth of her daughter, Kaya, whom she shares with former heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko.
Panettiere also endured the sudden death of her younger brother, actor and artist Jansen Panettiere, in February 2023. He was 28. His family later said he died from an enlarged heart combined with complications involving his aortic valve. Panettiere subsequently described the grief of losing her brother as immeasurable and spoke publicly about trying to heal following his death.
In May 2026, just months before her death, Panettiere released the memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning. The book examined her experiences growing up in Hollywood, family relationships, motherhood, addiction, fame and the personal struggles that unfolded behind her public image.
The memoir marked a particularly reflective period in her career. Panettiere said she hoped that sharing painful parts of her story could help other people facing their own struggles. The book reached No. 4 on The New York Times best-seller list, according to People.
Her final Instagram post came on July 27, roughly three weeks before her death. The photograph showed Panettiere smiling alongside photographer Randall Slavin with a simple message celebrating “good times and good friends.”
Remembering Hayden Panettiere
Panettiere leaves behind a career spanning more than three decades despite dying just days before what would have been her 37th birthday.
For one generation, she will forever be Claire Bennet, the seemingly indestructible cheerleader at the center of Heroes. For another, she was Juliette Barnes, the complicated country star whose ambition, vulnerability and personal battles helped drive Nashville. Horror fans knew her as Kirby Reed, while audiences who first encountered her as a child may remember Remember the Titans, Raising Helen or Ice Princess.
Her death also comes after a period in which Panettiere appeared increasingly willing to tell her own story rather than allow decades of headlines to tell it for her.
Panettiere is survived by her daughter, Kaya, and her parents, Skip Panettiere and Lesley Vogel. Her younger brother, Jansen, preceded her in death.
As news of her death continues to develop, authorities and her representatives have not announced an official cause of death.
