Actor Hayden Panettiere, known for roles in ‘Heroes,’ ‘Nashville,’ dies at 36
NBC News · LC · trust 48/100
“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,” her father, Skip Panettiere, said in a statement provided by her representative.
The cause and manner of death were not provided. Her publicist, Kasey Kitchen, said Panettiere’s death was being investigated.
“There’s an investigation ongoing,” Kitchen said in a statement. “We should know more tomorrow.”
Panettiere revealed this year that she struggled with postpartum depression and addiction , which she said led to her decision to give up custody of her only child, daughter Kaya Evdokia Klitschko, in 2018, whom she had with former partner Wladimir Klitschko, the Ukrainian professional boxer.
Panettiere recently published a memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” which generated headlines over its revelations, including about her past relationships.
Hayden Panettiere and Jansen Panettiere on in 2019 in Hollywood, Calif. Amanda Edwards / Getty Images In 2024, she described pain and grief after her younger brother, actor Jansen Panettiere, died unexpectedly of an undiagnosed heart condition the previous year.
“When you lose somebody that you saw in all the important moments in your life, standing right next to you, it just rocks your world,” she told NBC’s “TODAY” show.
The actor was born and raised in Palisades, New York, about 40 miles north of New York City, according to her Television Academy bio.
Panettiere started working at 11 months old, when she appeared in television commercials, it said.
She appeared on soap operas, including “One Life to Live” and “Guiding Light,” beginning at age 4. Her voice was featured in “A Bug’s Life,” the animated feature, and she eventually appeared in big-screen stories, including “Remember the Titans” and “Bring It On: All or Nothing.”
One of her most impactful roles was as Juliette Barnes on television’s “Nashville.” Before that, she was Claire Bennet on the 2000s show “Heroes.”
Her time shooting “Nashville” included the pressure of having had a baby and experiencing postpartum depression, she said, and at times it was too much.
Hayden Panettiere as Juliette Barnes on “Nashville.” Jake Giles Netter / CMT “That’s why I turned to substances — because the anxiety that I started having, the panic attacks that I started having,” she said in a tearful interview on the Jay Shetty Podcast in May.
Panettiere said she always wanted to be a mother but discussed her sadness amid her postpartum depression battle.
“I had this beautiful plan in my head, and then I had my daughter and I knew something was just terribly, terribly wrong,” she said on the podcast. “I was miserable. I was in tears all the time. Even though the alcohol helped my nervous system calm down, it is a depressant, so over time it made things worse, not better.”
Hayden Panettiere and Wladimir Klitschko in 2013 in Milan. Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty Images file Despite being apart from her daughter after giving up custody to Klitschko, Panettiere told Shetty, she formed a strong bond with her child.
“I will always want her here. I always miss her,” she said. “I always want to have my arms wrapped around her, but that’s just not the way life is right at this moment.”
She continued: “I have faith that she is going to come to me and that we’re going to have an incredible relationship and bond and friendship that a lot of parents don’t get to have with their kids.”
In 2018, the year “Nashville” ended it six-season run, Panettiere sold her home in the namesake city.
Hayden Panettiere arrives at the amfAR Gala Los Angeles at The Pacific Design Center on Nov. 3, 2022. Jordan Strauss / Invision / AP file Panettiere was a spokesperson for oceanic conservation group the Whaleman Foundation, appeared in the 2010 Oscar-winning documentary on dolphin slaughter, “The Cove,” and received the Genesis Wyler Award from the Humane Society, according to the television academy.
“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 said.
Share Add to Google Dennis Romero Dennis Romero is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.
Bill Feather Bill Feather is an assignment editor for NBC Los Angeles who covers general assignment and daily breaking news, primarily in Southern California.
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