American actress, model and singer Hayden Panettiere, famous for her television roles in Heroes and Nashville, has died at the age of 36. Her representative confirmed her death to the American broadcast network ABC News.
Emergency services received a call at 1:51 p.m. on Sunday from a friend who found Panettiere unresponsive and in cardiac arrest at her residence in Greenville, South Carolina. Entertainment news website TMZ reported details of the emergency call on Monday.
TMZ also obtained an audio recording of the dispatch communication, which showed that operators sent paramedics to the scene to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a person who had suffered an overdose.
Family statement and privacy request
Her father, Skip Panettiere, announced the tragic news of her death in a statement released on behalf of the family. He described his daughter as an incredible person and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to everyone who knew her, as well as to millions of viewers on screen.
Skip Panettiere did not disclose the cause of death. He asked for privacy while the family takes time to process what he described as an unimaginable loss.
Television and film career
Panettiere was raised in Palisades, a hamlet in Rockland County, New York. Her mother was a soap opera actress and her father served as a fire department captain.
She began her career as a child star, appearing in popular television series including the legal comedy drama Ally McBeal and the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle.
Panettiere achieved major television success playing cheerleader Claire Bennet in the science fiction series Heroes. She later starred as country music singer Juliette Barnes in the musical drama series Nashville, appearing in 128 episodes between 2012 and 2018. Her performance in Nashville earned her two Golden Globe nominations.
Her feature film career included prominent roles in the sports drama Remember the Titans, the comedy film Raising Helen, the figure skating movie Ice Princess, and the horror sequel Scream 4.
Personal life and family losses
In May, Panettiere published a memoir titled This Is Me: A Reckoning, which covered personal difficulties she faced from childhood into adulthood. According to the book synopsis, the work provides an intimate and rare look into her private life, addressing her experiences with postpartum depression, addiction and recovery, trauma, domestic abuse, and loss.
Panettiere had one child, a daughter named Kaya Klitschko born in 2014, with her former partner, Ukrainian world heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko. In a 2022 interview on the television show Good Morning America, Panettiere spoke openly about her struggles with alcoholism and postpartum depression.
Her younger brother, actor Jansen Panettiere, died suddenly at age 28 in February 2023. According to a family statement issued at the time, his death was caused by cardiomegaly, an enlarged heart, along with complications involving his aortic valve.
