Hayden Panettiere, the actor known for her roles in television shows such as Heroes and Nashville, has died at the age of 36. Panettiere’s death was confirmed in a statement from her representative to the Guardian on Sunday night, after it was first reported on US network ABC News. No cause of death was given.
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, Skip Panettiere, said in a statement. He asked for privacy “as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss”. A police spokesperson told Variety that “an acquaintance” of the actor placed an emergency call and that the “preliminary investigation has not indicated any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances”.
A statement from the Greenville County coroner’s office said that responders found a woman in cardiac arrest and an autopsy found no signs of trauma. Born in 1989, Panettiere was a child star who began acting at just 11 months old, appearing in a toy commercial. She made her big screen debut as the voice of Dot in A Bug’s Life, aged nine.
In 2000, she appeared in Remember the Titans. In 2004, she landed her first starring role as the daughter of Bill Pullman’s character in Tiger Cruise on the Disney Channel. Panettiere rose to global fame at the age of 17 as the invulnerable cheerleader Claire Bennet in Heroes, a series with the well-known, mysterious mantra: “Save the cheerleader, save the world.” The show was a hit and ran for four seasons between 2006 and 2010.
Panettiere also earned two Golden Globe nominations for her performance as the troubled country music star Juliette Barnes on Nashville. Eleven songs that Panettiere recorded for Nashville appeared on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs charts during the show’s run, including two featuring her co-star Connie Britton. She also appeared as Kirby Reed in 2011’s Scream 4 and 2023’s Scream VI.
Her co-stars have paid tribute online. David Arquette commented on a post, writing: “💔 I love you Hayden” while Melissa Barrera shared a story with the words “Rest in peace sweet Hayden”. In 2014 she gave birth to her daughter, Kaya Klitschko, whom she had with her ex-fiance, the Ukrainian heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko.
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