Hayden Panettiere Dies: ‘Heroes’ and ‘Nashville’ Actress Was 36

Hayden Panettiere, a former child star who was best known for her roles on NBC’s Heroes and ABC’s Nashville, has died. She was 36.

Panettiere passed away on Sunday, Aug. 16, her father Alan “Skip” Panettiere said in a statement sent to ABC News through a representative.

“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,” the statement read.

The location and cause of Panettiere’s death were not immediately released.

Although law enforcement sources told TMZ police responded to an incident involving the actress and an investigation was underway.

“There’s an investigation ongoing,” Kasey Kitchen, a publicist for the actress, confirmed to NBC news. “We should know more tomorrow.”

Born Aug. 21, 1989, in Palisades, New York, Panettiere was the daughter of former soap opera actress Lesley R. Vogel and Alan Panettiere, a captain in the New York City Fire Department.

Panettiere began appearing in commercials when she was 11 months old.

She worked steadily as a child and had roles on the daytime soap operas One Life to Live and Guiding Light, according to her IMDb page. Her breakout part came in the 2000 film Remember the Titans alongside Denzel Washington.

She later gained widespread recognition as cheerleader Claire Bennet on Heroes, which ran from 2006 to 2010, and would later star opposite Connie Britton on the musical drama series Nashville as country singer Juliette Barnes. Panettiere performed several songs on the series and recorded music for the soundtrack.

Her film credits included Raising Helen (2004), the horror movies Scream 4 (2011) and Scream VI (2023), and the thriller Amber Alert (2024).

In May, Panettiere released her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning. The book recounted her experiences as a child actor and her struggles with addiction, postpartum depression and domestic abuse, as well as the loss of her younger brother.

In 2022, Panettiere sat down for a deeply personal interview on Red Table Talk and discussed losing custody of her daughter, Kaya.

She told hosts Jada Pinkett Smith, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, and guest host Kelly Osbourne that she did not “give away my child.”

In 2018, as she worked on her mental and physical health, the actress said Kaya went to Ukraine to live with her father, former professional boxer Wladimir Klitschko.

“She was almost three, and it wasn’t fully my decision,” Panettiere shared.

“In fact, I didn’t even know it was happening until she was already over there,” she continued. “In a country where her uncle is the mayor, and they are icons over there. It’s a country where it’s very male dominated, so there wasn’t a heck of a lot that I could do.”

She described losing custody of her daughter as “heartbreaking.”