Actor Hayden Panettiere, best known for shows like Heroes and Nashville, has died. She was 36 years old.
Her representative confirmed the news Sunday night, and revealed police were investigating her death. Her father, Skip Panettiere, described her as “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.”
Born August 21, 1989, Panettiere began her acting career at 11 months old in various TV commercials. In 1994, she played Sarah Roberts in the ABC soap opera One Life to Live for three years, then Lisa Spaulding on CBS’ Guiding Light. Various films and shows over the years kept her in people’s minds—Remember the Titans, Law & Order: SVU (twice), and Malcolm in the Middle, to name quite a few things—with one of her big breakout roles being Claire Bennet on the aforementioned Heroes.
The clip of Claire jumping off a building and healing herself was one of the first pieces of that show’s marketing blitz, and much of the show’s early seasons centered around her and her family. Panettiere found consistent work outside of the show during its run, with a notable genre role as Kirby Reed in 2011’s Scream 4. (She’d come back to the franchise with 2023’s Scream 6, while opting not to return as Claire for Heroes Reborn.)
Outside of TV and film, Panettiere also did voice work in video games, playing Kairi and Xion in the early Kingdom Hearts games. She also played Sam in Supermassive’s horror slasher game Until Dawn, and reprised her role as Dot in the tie-in game for A Bug’s Life.
We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Hayden Panettiere. Hayden brought Sam to life in Until Dawn, shaping her into one of horror gaming’s most iconic final girls. Our thoughts are with her friends, family, and our com