Summary

  • Actress Hayden Panettiere, known for roles in TV shows Heroes and Nashville, has died aged 36

  • "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," her father, Skip Panettiere, says in a statement

  • He also asks for "privacy as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss"

  • No cause of death has been confirmed

Live Reporting

Edited by Jack Burgess and Sam Hancock

  1. From child actor to Heroes star - a brief look at Panettiere's career

    Yang Tian
    Live reporter

    Hayden PannetiereReuters

    Beginning her career as a child actor, Hayden Panettiere was just four years old when she was cast on the popular US soap opera One Life to Live.

    She later rose to fame playing Claire Bennet in the popular sci-fi series Heroes, which ran from 2006 to 2010.

    Panettiere's career spanned three decades with a string of roles in other hit TV shows and films, including the Scream horror franchise and the romantic comedies Raising Helen and I Love You, Beth Cooper.

    Earlier this year, she released a memoir titled This Is Me: A Reckoning, recounting the struggles of growing up as a child actor and her experiences with addiction, abuse and later recovery.

    Panettiere is survived by her daughter Kaya with her former partner, Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko.

  2. 'An incredible light and a force of nature,' father says in statement

    Hayden Panettiere pictured on 6 March 2023Reuters

    Hayden Panettiere’s father, Skip Panettiere, has described his "profound sadness" at his daughter’s death.

    In a statement, which has now been shared with the BBC, he says:

    "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.

    "We ask for privacy as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss."

  3. Heroes actress Hayden Panettiere dies aged 36

    Actress Hayden Panettiere, who starred in TV shows Heroes and Nashville has died aged 36.

    Announcing her death in a statement reported by the BBC’s US partner CBS News, her father Skip Panettiere describes 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”.

    She began her career as a child actor, and was just four years old when cast on popular US soap opera One Life to Live.

    Panettiere went on to play a cheerleader with superpowers in Heroes - which ran from 2006 to 2020 - and had other memorable roles, including in films Remember the Titans and Raising Helen.

    The details surrounding her death were not immediately available. We’ll have reaction through the morning.