Hayden Panettiere, ‘Nashville’ and ‘Heroes’ actress, dead at 36
New York Post · RC · trust 46/100
See more of our coverage in your search results.
Add Page Six on Google Hayden Panettiere, an actress best known for her starring roles in “Nashville” and “Heroes,” has died. She was 36.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,” her father, Skip Panettiere, said in a statement to ABC News . “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 concluded the statement by asking for privacy “as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss.”
Law enforcement sources confirmed to TMZ that police responded to an incident involving Panettiere on Sunday and that an investigation is currently open. A source told the outlet that the actress had recently “been complaining about back pain in the past year.”
A cause of death has yet to be revealed. Page Six has reached out to Panettiere’s reps for comment.
Panettiere was born on Aug. 21, 1989, in Palisades, New York, to parents Skip and Lesley Vogel.
She got her start in Hollywood as a child star. She starred in commercials as an infant before landing gigs on soap operas like “One Life to Live” in 1994 and “Guiding Light” in 1996.
“My introduction to acting was actually at 11 months old,” Panettiere told “Entertainment Tonight” in 2023. “Playskool Toy Train was my first commercial, but, I don’t know if that would really be an introduction to acting, because I don’t think acting was involved at that point. I didn’t have lines, I was just playing.”
While she’s best known for portraying cheerleader Claire Bennet on “Heroes” and country music star Juliette Barnes on “Nashville,” she’s also starred in projects like “Remember the Titans,” “I Love You, Beth Cooper,” “Ice Princess,” “Scream 4” and the TV movie “Amanda Knox.”
The actress also modeled, collaborating on campaigns for companies like Neutrogena, Candie’s and Dooney & Bourke, and sang. She was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1999 for “A Bug’s Life,” and also contributed music to several soundtracks, including a cover of “Cruella De Vil” for “Disneymania 5,” “Try” for “Bridge to Terabithia” and “I Still Believe” for “Cinderella III: A Twist in Time.”
Aside from her career, Panettiere’s personal life often made headlines. Sadly, her only sibling, brother Jansen, unexpectedly died in 2023 of aortic valve complications at the age of 28.
Panettiere struck up a romance with boxing champ Wladimir Klitschko in 2009, later became engaged and gave birth to their daughter, Kaya, in 2014. She relinquished custody of her only child amid her struggles with addiction and postpartum depression in 2018.
“The idea that anybody would think that I would just give away my child and be OK with it is heartbreaking,” she explained in May , on an episode of the “On Purpose” podcast. “It couldn’t be further from the truth. “It became this horrible cycle for years of battling depression and anxiety and alcoholism and substance abuse and just me trying to find my way back.”
Panettiere admitted that she “completely lost” herself, to the point where her ex-fiancé asked for Kaya to live with him full-time in Ukraine at the age of 2.
“I did not have a good reaction to it,” she confessed. “I went like mother lion. I would’ve burnt the world down for my child. So that was incredibly difficult.”
Before her death, the actress had been vocal about her struggles with postpartum depression, substance abuse and being in the spotlight since she was a kid. She most recently opened up about her battles in her memoir, “ This Is Me: A Reckoning ,” which was released in May.
“I had my first identity crisis. I remember exactly where I was, standing in my bedroom at 12 years old,” she recalled during a panel discussion for the book Los Angeles at the time, noting that she spent much of her childhood either “playing characters” or sitting in audition rooms.
“It’s the most brutal experience, like the stark cold room, and just this row of people judging you.”
Panettiere admitted that she was “wasn’t checking in” with herself while going through some “dark” and “ugly” experiences over the years.
“I’m a perfectionist. Like, I’ve been groomed. I’m so militant because, I’ve been groomed from such a young age that you don’t ask questions,” she shared.
“Someone says, ‘You stand on the mark, you get your lines right, I ask you to throw yourself in a building in the middle of the night in the pouring rain’ over and over and over again. These crazy stunts. You’re like, ‘Cool, yeah, sure. No problem’ … I just got to an age where I was just so emotional and so upset all the time that I was trying anything to make it OK.”
Panettiere remembered wondering at the time, “I’m playing all these characters and I feel like they’re genuine and they’re a part of me, but who am I outside of this? What is my identity?”
Just a few months later, in July, Page Six reported that Panettiere canceled her appearance at Creep I.E. Con at the last minute due to an emergency.
“Hayden Panettiere has an emergency and will not be able to attend this weekend. We are looking forward to her appearing at an upcoming show,” the convention shared via Instagram at the time.
A rep for Panettiere told Page Six that the cancellation was “due to a private family matter.”
Panettiere’s last post on her Instagram feed was July 27, a photo with director/photographer Randall Slavin that was captioned, “Good times and good friends.”
Your voice matters. Discussions are moderated for civility. Read our guidelines here
Community Guidelines Welcome to the Page Six Community! Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas in a safe space.
In order to do so, we've created a simple set of rules that will improve your experience.
Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Don't forget, freedom of speech is not the…
Read the original at New York Post →
Open in TruthVane →