Hayden Panettiere: US actress who starred in Heroes and Nashville dies aged 36

US actress Hayden Panettiere - best known for her roles in the TV series Heroes and Nashville - has died aged 36.

"It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden," her father Skip said in a statement to Sky's US partner 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."

Her father went on to ask for privacy "as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss".

Police in Greenville, South Carolina, said in a statement that an acquaintance of Panettiere's placed a 911 call and emergency services responded but were unable to save her.

"The case is under investigation by the Greenville Police Department in conjunction with the Greenville County Coroner's Office. The preliminary investigation has not indicated any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances. An acquaintance of Ms. Panettiere placed the 911 call," it said.

The statement added that no further details were available for release at this time.

Her publicist, Kasey Kitchen, said Panettiere's death was being investigated, according to NBC News.

"There's an investigation ongoing," Kitchen said in a statement. "We should know more tomorrow."

Panettiere also starred in the Scream franchise of horror movies.

Earlier this year, Panettiere released her memoirs This Is Me: A Reckoning, in which she opened up about her experiences with postpartum depression, addiction, and recovery.

This led to her decision to give up custody of her only child Kaya in 2018, whom she shares with her former partner Wladimir Klitschko, the Ukrainian professional boxer.

In an interview with podcaster Jay Shetty after the release of her memoir, Panettiere spoke about the custody arrangement for her 11-year-old daughter, who lives full-time with Klitschko in Ukraine.

"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 described herself as being 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".

Panettiere first appeared in commercials when she was just 11 months old - and went on to become a child actor with roles in soap operas including One Life To Live and Guiding Light.

Her feature film debut came when she was nine years old, as the voice of Princess Dot in A Bug's Life.

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Panettiere, who would have turned 37 on Friday, was propelled to fame in 2006 through her role as a cheerleader with superpowers in Heroes.

When she later recalled the first time she was tracked by paparazzi after the show's release, Panettiere said the moment was "just sheer terror".

On the show's appeal, she said: "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.

"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 the role.

Panettiere later played a brash country music upstart in Nashville, which ran for four seasons on US broadcaster ABC, before being cancelled and revived on CMT.

It was while filming Nashville that she first entered rehab in 2015.

The actor did her own singing in the show, which earned her some hits on the country music charts and two supporting actress nominations at the Golden Globes.

In 2024, she described pain and grief after her younger brother died unexpectedly of an undiagnosed heart condition the previous year.

"When you lose somebody that you saw in all the important moments in your life, standing right next to you, it just rocks your world," she told NBC's Today show.

(c) Sky News 2026: Hayden Panettiere: US actress who starred in Heroes and Nashville dies aged 36