Actress Hayden Panettiere, whose work on Heroes, Nashville, and the Scream franchise made her one of the most recognizable television stars of her generation, has died at age 36.
Panettiere’s representative confirmed her death late Sunday. No cause of death or details about the circumstances were immediately released.
The statement shared by her representative remembered Panettiere as an incredible light who brought enormous love and joy to the people who knew her and to millions of viewers worldwide.
That news landed with particular shock given that Panettiere had spent almost her entire life in public. She began appearing in commercials before her first birthday, moved into daytime television as a child, and built a career spanning drama, comedy, voice acting, and film.
For millions of viewers, she will always be Claire Bennet, the indestructible cheerleader at the center of NBC’s Heroes. The role turned Panettiere into an international star and made her face inseparable from one of television’s biggest shows of the 2000s.
She later took on the more complex role of country singer Juliette Barnes in ABC’s Nashville, where she gave the character an edge and vulnerability that helped carry the series for six seasons.
Panettiere also returned to the big screen as fan-favorite Kirby Reed in Scream VI, more than a decade after first playing the role in Scream 4.
Panettiere was unusually candid about the parts of her life that did not fit neatly into Hollywood’s success story. She spoke openly about alcoholism, postpartum depression, treatment, and the difficult work of rebuilding her life.
In an interview published in July, Panettiere discussed the wrenching decision to let her daughter Kaya live with her father, former heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko. Kaya had lived with her father since 2018, and Panettiere said she chose not to turn the situation into an ugly, highly public custody battle.
Panettiere described traveling to see her daughter as often as possible and remaining grateful for their relationship. She also detailed the postpartum depression and addiction that followed a traumatic delivery requiring seven blood transfusions.
Her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, was released earlier this year. Panettiere used the book and interviews surrounding it to discuss addiction, abuse, motherhood, grief, and recovery.
She had also been a vocal supporter of Ukraine, where her daughter once lived. In a 2022 interview, Panettiere described creating Hoplon International to help provide protective gear and medical supplies to people on the front lines after Russia’s invasion.
Panettiere is survived by her daughter Kaya. She endured the loss of her younger brother, actor Jansen Panettiere, in 2023 and later spoke about how profoundly that grief changed her.
At 36, Panettiere leaves behind an extraordinary body of work—and a generation of viewers who watched her grow up on screen. The roles were unforgettable. The honesty she showed about what happened when the cameras were off may prove just as lasting.
