Actress Hayden Panettiere has died
American actress Hayden Panettiere died shortly before her 37th birthday, her family announced on August 16. The cause of death has not been disclosed and is under investigation.
The family of American actress Hayden Panettiere announced on August 16 that she had died shortly before her 37th birthday, news agency Reuters reports. The official statement did not disclose a cause of death, but the actress's publicist, Kasey Kitchen, told NBC News that the circumstances are being investigated.
According to the BBC, in one of her last interviews this past May, Panettiere said she still had much left to experience and felt as though she had finally shed everything dark and negative in her life. During that conversation, she spoke openly about postpartum depression, being stalked, and her relationship with former Ukrainian boxer Vladimir Klitschko, the father of her daughter. In 2018 Panettiere transferred full custody of their daughter to Klitschko, and the daughter now lives with him in Ukraine.
The actress's father, Alan Panettiere, described her as a bright, spirited person who brought love and joy to everyone who knew her and to the millions of viewers who watched her work.
Career
Panettiere first rose to prominence voicing the ant princess Dot in Pixar's animated film "A Bug's Life." Starting in 2006, she gained wide recognition playing a superpowered cheerleader in the NBC series "Heroes." In 2013 and 2014 she received two Golden Globe nominations for her role in "Nashville," and she also appeared in the "Scream" horror franchise. Her most recent role was in the 2026 psychological thriller "Sleepwalker."
In her memoir "This Is Me: A Reckoning," published in May, Panettiere spoke candidly about the postpartum depression she experienced after her daughter's birth in 2014 and the struggle with alcohol addiction that followed.
The actors' union SAG-AFTRA, of which Panettiere had been a member since 1994, expressed condolences to her daughter, family and friends. In 2023 her brother, Jansen Panettiere, also died at age 28.
