Hayden Panettiere, the actress best known for her roles on Heroes and Nashville, was found in cardiac arrest on Sunday, Aug. 16, at a residence in Greenville, South Carolina, where she had been temporarily staying. She was 36 years old.
According to a report by Billboard, the Greenville County Coroner's office said emergency personnel responded to a 911 call from an acquaintance about a reported cardiac arrest Sunday afternoon. Medical personnel attempted to resuscitate Panettiere and initiated advanced cardiac life support and other life-saving measures, but were unsuccessful. She was pronounced dead approximately 30 minutes after the 911 call. An autopsy showed no signs of trauma, foul play, or suspicious circumstances. An official cause and manner of death remain pending the results of additional testing.
"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," said her father, Skip Panettiere, in a statement.
Panettiere's most recent film was Sleepwalker, a psychological thriller filmed in late 2025 and released in January of this year, in which she played a woman struggling after the loss of her daughter in a car crash. Actor Justin Chatwin, her co-star in the film, spoke to People about his experience working with her on set.
"We hit it off great and it was an awesome shoot, but it was about domestic abuse and it was subject matter that may have hit close to home, because she did mention it. She opened up to me about a lot of things," Chatwin said. He noted that Panettiere had spoken publicly about an abusive relationship with ex-boyfriend Brian Hickerson.
Chatwin, who said he first met Panettiere while she was starring in Heroes, described her as seeming different during production on Sleepwalker. "I've been sober for 15 years, so I know this world of addiction, and Hollywood — it takes, and it takes from youth," he said, adding that he could tell she was "struggling, and I was like, 'I don't think it's this movie.' There's a handful of women that I've worked with that I really liked, and I really loved working with her, but I also know that she was really lonely."
Panettiere is survived by her 11-year-old daughter, Kaya Evdokia Klitschko, whom she had with former boxer and ex-fiancé Wladimir Klitschko. In 2018, Panettiere agreed to give Klitschko full custody of Kaya amid her struggles with postpartum depression and addiction. Klitschko responded to the news of her death, saying she "Left This World Far Too Soon."
