Actress Hayden Panettiere, the talented child star who rose to fame as the indestructible Claire Bennet on NBC’s hit series Heroes and earned critical acclaim as country singer Juliette Barnes on Nashville, has died. She was 36.
Her representative confirmed the tragic news to ABC News late Sunday. In a heartfelt statement, her father, Skip Panettiere, said: “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.” The family requested privacy as they process the unimaginable loss.
Further details surrounding the cause of Panettiere’s death were not immediately available. Law enforcement sources indicated police responded to an incident involving the actress, and an investigation remains open. Sources close to her noted she had complained of back pain in the past year.
Panettiere began her career as a toddler, appearing in commercials and landing early roles on soap operas including One Life to Live and Guiding Light. She broke out in Hollywood with memorable turns in films such as Remember the Titans opposite Denzel Washington, Raising Helen, Ice Princess, and later the Scream franchise, including Scream 4 and Scream VI.
Her television breakthrough came as Claire Bennet, the cheerleader with regenerative powers, on Heroes. She later delivered powerhouse performances on ABC’s Nashville, earning two Golden Globe nominations for her portrayal of the ambitious Juliette Barnes.
In recent years, Panettiere spoke candidly about her personal battles. She released her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning in May 2026, detailing the pressures of child stardom, addiction struggles, and her fight with postpartum depression after the 2014 birth of her daughter, Kaya, with former fiancé and boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko.
Just months before her death, Panettiere appeared on Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast, where she emotionally addressed the difficult decision to grant full custody of Kaya to Klitschko in 2018.
“The idea that anybody would think that I would just give away my child and be OK with it is heartbreaking. Couldn’t be further from the truth,” she said. “I was struggling with mental health and anxiety and the postpartum [depression] and having to axe my way through it and just feeling like I completely lost myself.”
She described the period as one of deep darkness but emphasized the strong bond she maintained with her daughter, now 11, and her belief that the arrangement ultimately served Kaya’s best interests.
Panettiere’s younger brother, actor Jansen Panettiere, died suddenly in 2023 at age 28 from heart complications, a loss she described as devastating.
A note on comments: Our advertisers enforce a strict zero-tolerance policy on racism, hate speech, and threats of violence. Any comment that crosses that line will be removed and the account permanently banned — no warnings. Debate hard, but keep it civil.