Hayden Panettiere, the American actress whose Italian heritage ran through both sides of her family, has died at 36. Her paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother were both children of Italian immigrants, giving the New York-born star strong Italian roots from both her father, Alan “Skip” Panettiere, and her mother, Lesley Vogel.
Her unmistakably Italian surname – Panettiere means “baker” in Italian – remained a visible connection to that heritage throughout her career.
Panettiere was found unresponsive and in cardiac arrest at a residence in Greenville, South Carolina, on August 16. Emergency personnel attempted advanced life-support measures, but she was pronounced dead at 2:32 p.m. Authorities said an autopsy found no signs of trauma that contributed to her death. The official cause and manner of death remain under investigation.
Born in New York on August 21, 1989, Panettiere entered show business extraordinarily early. She appeared in a television commercial at just 11 months old and joined One Life to Live at age 4.
Her international breakthrough arrived in 2006 with Heroes, where she played Claire Bennet, the seemingly indestructible cheerleader who became one of the series’ signature characters. From 2012 to 2018, she starred as country singer Juliette Barnes in Nashville, earning 2 Golden Globe nominations.
Her film credits included Remember the Titans, Raising Helen, Ice Princess and Scream 4, and she later returned to the Scream franchise in 2023.
Panettiere was also the mother of Kaya, born in 2014. Her death comes just 3 years after her younger brother, actor Jansen Panettiere, died at 28 from heart complications. Hayden would have turned 37 on August 21.
