Hayden Panettiere, Heroes and Nashville star, dead at 36

Published August 17, 2026 12:48pm ET | Updated August 17, 2026 12:48pm ET



Hayden Panettiere, the child star who rose to international stardom through her roles in Heroes and Nashville, has died at 36.

Panettiere died Sunday in South Carolina. Her father, Skip Panettiere, announced the death in a statement, asking for privacy “as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss.” Police in Greenville said officers and emergency medical services responded to a report of an unresponsive female Sunday afternoon and pronounced her dead at the scene, according to ABC News.

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