AP - Hayden Panettiere, star of popular television series including “Heroes” & “Nashville,” died Sunday at an apartment complex in South Carolina where she was found unresponsive. She was 36.
Panettiere’s father, Skip, announced the actor’s death in a statement provided to ABC News.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden. She was an incredible light & a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her & to the millions who watched her onscreen,” his statement said.
No cause of death was announced.
Panettiere, who would have turned 37 on Friday, began her career as a child actor in commercials & 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.”
She went on to win 3 Teen Choice Awards for that role & 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 4 seasons before being canceled & 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 2 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 & depression, including after the birth of her daughter with Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko in 2014.
Police in Greenville said officers & emergency medical personnel responded to a report of an unresponsive female at the Judson Mill Lofts southwest of downtown shortly before 2 p.m. Sunday. Live-saving measures were performed, but Panettiere was pronounced dead at the scene.
There were no signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances, police said, adding they were called to the apartment complex by an acquaintance of Panettiere who called 911. The Greenville County Coroner’s Office was to perform an autopsy.
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