Actress Hayden Panettiere dies at 36
The Hill · C · trust 48/100
Comments: by Alicia Sitz - 08/17/26 6:14 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Alicia Sitz - 08/17/26 6:14 AM ET Comments: Link copied NOW PLAYING ( NewsNation ) — Actress Hayden Panettiere, best known for her roles the hit series “Heroes” and “Nashville,” has died, according to reports from TMZ and ABC News. Panettiere was 36 years old.
A representative for Panettiere released a statement to ABC News saying: “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.”
TMZ reports the film and TV star died on Sunday while she was with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, actor Brian Hickerson.
Panettiere began her career in commercials when she was just 11 months old, according to her biography from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. When she was four, she began working on ABC’s “One Life to Live,” before moving on to CBS’s “Guiding Light.”
She is best known as cheerleader Claire Bennett on NBC’s “Heroes,” and as Juliette Barnes on ABC’s “Nashville.”
Panettiere has won numerous awards for her work, including the 2008 and 2009 Teen Choice Awards for Choice Actress in an Action/Adventure film. She also won the 2009 Teen Choice Award for Choice Celebrity Activist for her work as the campaign spokesperson for the Whaleman Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving and protecting ocean mammals and their habitat.
Panettiere has a daughter, Kaya, whom she shares with her former fiancé, professional boxer Wladimir Klitschko.
At this time, no details have been released as to her cause of death.
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