American actress Hayden Panettiere dies, aged 36

American actress Hayden Panettiere, known for playing a cheerleader with superpowers and a country music star on the television shows Heroes (2006 to 2010) and Nashville (2012 to 2018), respectively, has died aged 36, her family said in a statement issued by her publicist on Aug 16.

The two-time Golden Globe nominee was found unresponsive at an apartment complex in Greenville, South Carolina, and pronounced dead at the scene, the city’s police department said in a statement.

Her death was being investigated, but there were no signs of foul play, the police said. An excerpt of a 911 call showed medics confirming to a dispatcher they were responding to an overdose at the address and trying to resuscitate an unresponsive woman.

Panettiere’s death came only a few months after the May release of her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning, which recounted the challenges of childhood stardom, trauma around the 2014 birth of her daughter and her subsequent battles with post-partum depression, alcohol addiction and the use of opioids to self-medicate.

In it, she revealed she had body dysmorphia because of invasive tabloid press coverage when she was a teenager. She also described her estrangement from her mother, who managed her career as a child and criticised the book.

“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 on-screen,” her father, Alan “Skip” Panettiere, said in a statement.

He asked for privacy as their family “takes time to process this unimaginable loss”.

Hayden Panettiere was born on Aug 21, 1989, to actress Lesley Vogel and Alan Panettiere, who was a captain in the New York Fire Department. She was raised in Palisades, New York.

The former child actress kicked off her career in the American soap opera One Life To Live, appearing in the show from 1994 to 1997, then gained recognition voicing Dot, the young princess ant in Pixar’s 1998 animated hit A Bug’s Life. Her work on the film’s read-along album earned a Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Word Album for Children.

She shot to fame playing Claire Bennet, a high-school cheerleader with superpowers, on NBC’s serialised hit Heroes. She also appeared in the 2000 football drama Remember The Titans alongside Denzel Washington.

She earned two Golden Globe nominations, in 2013 and 2014, for Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for her role as Juliette Barnes in the musical drama Nashville.

She was also known for movies such as sports comedy Bring It On: All Or Nothing (2006) and the fourth and sixth instalments of the Scream horror movie franchise (1996 to present).

Her most recent appearance was in the psychological thriller Sleepwalker, released in January 2026, playing a grieving mother plagued by sleepwalking episodes.

Her colleagues and friends in Hollywood reacted with shock and grief on Aug 17.

American actress Viola Davis, her co-star in the 2016 film Custody, remembered Panettiere as “an old, wise soul with such a deep heart” in a tribute on social media.

“Your tests became your testimony, and your testimony became your legacy,” the Oscar winner wrote. “I wish the world had more time with you because I had a burning curiosity about who you were becoming. I saw this beautiful phoenix rising from the ashes.”

Panettiere is survived by her 11-year-old daughter Kaya, whom she shared with former fiance and Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko. He asked for sole custody when Kaya was three, and she now lives with him in Ukraine.

In a post on X on Aug 18, Klitschko said that while they were no longer partners, Panettiere had been an important part of his life.

He wrote: “She built an incredible career through immense talent, while also facing the darker sides of a very demanding industry. Nothing will erase the times we shared or the place she had in our lives.

“To our daughter Kaya, I will always speak of her mother with respect and make sure she remembers the person she was.

“I extend my deepest condolences to Hayden’s parents, her friends and her fans, who are also grieving today. Young and talented people like Hayden should not leave this world so soon.”

In one of her final interviews before her death, she told parenting magazine Mome in July that the extremely painful and dangerous birth had left her depressed and made her turn to drinking.

“I was going through a really challenging time in my life,” she said in the interview. “I knew I needed to be able to put her first so that I could get the help I needed and be the mum she needed me to be.”

Panettiere’s brother, actor Jansen Panettiere, died in 2023, aged 28, from complications related to an enlarged heart and an aortic-valve condition, the family told US media that year.

In an interview with NPR in May, the actress said she was able to cry on cue just by channelling difficult emotions. The skill helped her career, but “the thoughts and the places that I had to go in my head became darker and darker”.

“How could that not have an emotional impact over time on you?” she asked.

That same month, a sometimes tearful Panettiere appeared on the On Purpose podcast to discuss her newly published memoir, which she said she hoped would help others struggling with addiction or post-partum depression.

“I finally feel like I have shaken off all of this darkness and this negativity,” she told host Jay Shetty. “And that means I’ve closed one door and another door is opened, and I can feel it opened and I can feel all the exciting possibilities. I feel like I have a lot more life to live.” REUTERS, AFP