Hayden Panettiere, who starred in the television series ‘Heroes’ and
‘Nashville,’ dies at 36
[August 17, 2026]
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hayden Panettiere, star of popular television
series including “Heroes” and “Nashville,” has died. She was 36.
Panettiere’s father, Skip, announced the actor’s death in a statement
provided to ABC News on Sunday.
“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,” his statement said.
No cause of death was announced, and a publicist for Hayden Panettiere
did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press.
Panettiere, who would have turned 37 on Friday, began her career as a
child actor in commercials and soap operas.
Her role as a cheerleader with superpowers in “Heroes” propelled her to
fame in 2006, with the series revolving around the mantra “Save the
cheerleader, save the world.”
“I think ‘Heroes’ is really hot because it’s just a really great
combination of everything that people love — they love reality, they
love sci-fi and things like X-Men where they get to dream of something
bigger,” Panettiere told The Associated Press in 2008. “And at the core
of it are these human stories that people can relate to, very rugged.
And it’s just grabbed everyone in every age group.”
She went on to win three Teen Choice Awards for that role and was a
Grammy Award nominee for a children’s spoken word album recorded a few
years after the release of the animated movie “A Bug’s Life.”
Panettiere later played a brash country upstart opposite Connie Britton
on “Nashville,” which aired on ABC for four seasons before being
canceled and revived on CMT. She did her own singing in the show, which
scored some hits on country charts, spawned U.S. tours and earned
Panettiere two supporting actress Golden Globe nominations. Panettiere
had 11 songs recorded for “Nashville” appear on Billboard’s Hot Country
Songs charts during the show’s run, including two featuring Britton.
Panettiere's younger brother, Jansen, who was also an actor, died of a
heart condition in 2023, at age 28.
She had been open about her struggles with alcohol addiction and
depression, including after the birth of her daughter with Ukrainian
boxer Wladimir Klitschko in 2014.
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Hayden Panettiere arrives at the 21st annual Critics' Choice Awards
at the Barker Hangar on Jan. 17, 2016, in Santa Monica, Calif.
(Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
 In an interview with podcaster Jay
Shetty after her memoir came out in May, Panettiere talked about the
custody arrangement for her 11-year-old daughter, who lives
full-time with Klitschko in Ukraine. News of the 2018 decision
prompted headlines about Panettiere giving up custody of her
daughter.
“I think there’s been this very common misconception that I just
gave up my child,” she said. “That could not be farther from the
truth.”
Panettiere said Klitschko suggested their daughter live with him
full-time when the child was 2, as Panettiere struggled with mental
health challenges and addiction. She said she was in a “horrible
cycle for years of battling depression and anxiety and alcoholism
and substance abuse” while “just trying to find my way back, my way
out of the darkness.”
She entered rehab in 2015, while filming “Nashville.”
“I was the one who put myself in the first treatment center. I was
drowning,” she said in a 2023 interview with Women’s Health
magazine.
On Shetty’s podcast, Panettiere recalled the explosion of her fame
when she was cast on “Heroes,” including the first time she was
tracked by the paparazzi. When she’d imagined the moment as a
younger actress, she’d planned to look chic.
Instead, she said, “it was just sheer terror.”
Panettiere also appeared in two of the “Scream” movies, starred as
the title character in the 2009 film “I Love You Beth Cooper” and
played the young daughter of a football coach in “Remember the
Titans.” She had spoken positively about her experience filming
“Remember the Titans,” saying she felt so similar to the character
she played — Sheryl Yoast, the opiniated, football-loving daughter
of Will Patton’s Coach Bill Yoast.
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