Hayden Panettiere, the actress best known for her roles in the television series Heroes and Nashville, died Sunday afternoon in Greenville, South Carolina. She was 36.
According to Variety, the Greenville Police Department confirmed that officers and EMS responded at 1:51 p.m. to a report of an unresponsive female. Upon arrival, medical assistance was administered, but Panettiere was pronounced deceased at the scene. An acquaintance placed the 911 call.
A spokesperson for the Greenville Police Department told Variety: "The case is under investigation by the Greenville Police Department in conjunction with the Greenville County Coroner's Office." The spokesperson added that "the preliminary investigation has not indicated any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances." An official cause of death will follow an autopsy.
People reported that on dispatch audio obtained by the outlet, officials could be heard discussing an overdose and cardiac arrest. No official cause of death has been confirmed.
Her father, Skip Panettiere, released a statement through The Hollywood Reporter. "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," he said. "We ask for privacy as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss."
Panettiere earned her breakout role in 2006 and built a long career in both television and film. Her credits included I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009), Scream 4 (2011), and Scream VI (2023), which marked her return to the industry after stepping away in 2016. She also took the title role in the 2011 Lifetime telefilm Amanda Knox.
She had been open about her struggles with alcohol and drugs for years. In May, she published a memoir titled This Is Me: A Reckoning, in which she wrote candidly about those struggles and about growing up in Hollywood. She also addressed postpartum depression and her time as a child star.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter about the memoir, Panettiere spoke about how she approached writing about the people in her life. "I was fiercely protective of people in my writing," she said. "I felt very strongly about my ability to tell my stories and make them entertaining enough to put in a book, without having to drag people through the mud." She added: "I mean, my publicist is also my dear friend and I trust her, so I leaned on her to know. And then I made sure that Vlad [Klitschko, Panettiere's ex-fiancé and father of her daughter] wasn't going to be upset with me. But other than that, I just had to speak my truth — and it's mine alone."
Panettiere had a daughter, Kaya, born in 2014, with Ukrainian heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko, with whom she was in a relationship from 2009 to 2011 and again from 2013 to 2018. Her younger brother, actor Jansen Panettiere, died in February 2023 of aortic valve complications at age 28.
Viola Davis, who starred alongside Panettiere in the 2016 film Custody, was among the celebrities who paid tribute. "I wish the world had more time with you because I had a burning curiosity about who you were becoming," Davis said. "I saw this beautiful Phoenix rising from the ashes."
The Greenville County Coroner's Office is continuing its investigation, and an official cause of death is pending autopsy results.
