American actress Hayden Panettiere, famed for roles in television shows such as “Nashville” and “Heroes,” has died aged 36, her family said in a statement issued by her publicist on Sunday.
No cause was stated, but the death of the nominee for a Grammy and two Golden Globe awards was being investigated, the publicist, Kasey Kitchen, told broadcaster NBC News.
“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,” said her father, Alan “Skip” Panettiere.
A former child actor, Panettiere 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 a high school cheerleader with superpowers, Claire Bennet, on NBC’s serialized hit “Heroes,” which debuted in 2006. She also appeared in the 2000 football drama “Remember the Titans,” starring Denzel Washington.
“We join in mourning the sudden passing of Hayden Panettiere,” the screen actors’ union SAG-AFTRA, which counted her as a member since 1994, said in a statement. “Our hearts are with her daughter, family, friends and fans.”
Panettiere 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 part of the satirical horror “Scream” franchise.
Panettiere’s most recent appearance was in the psychological thriller “Sleepwalker,” released in January 2026, playing a grieving mother plagued by sleepwalking episodes, website IMDb shows.
Her memoir “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” released in May, portrayed the trauma around the difficult 2014 birth of her daughter, and her subsequent battles with postpartum depression and alcohol addiction then.
Panettiere is survived by her daughter Kaya, whom she shared with former fiancé and Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko. Kaya lives with Klitschko in Ukraine, Panettiere said this year.
Her brother, actor Jansen Panettiere, 28, died in 2023 from complications related to an enlarged heart and an aortic-valve condition, the family told U.S. media that year. (Reuters)