Hayden Panettiere, Star Of Heroes, Nashville And Scream, Dies Aged 36

Hayden Panettiere has died at the age of 36.

The Golden Globe nominee was best known for her work in the TV series Heroes and Nashville, while to fans of the horror genre, she was most recognisable for her performance as Kirby Reed in the Scream franchise.

On Sunday night, her father Skip Panettiere issued a statement which read: “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.”

Skip also requested privacy from the media “as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss”.

No further details about Hayden’s death have been made public.

Hayden began her career as a child actor, landing the role of Sarah Roberts in the US daytime soap One Life To Live when she was just five years old.

From there, she went on to play Lizzie Spaulding in Guiding Light, earning a Special Recognition Award from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for her portrayal of a young girl with cancer, and voiced characters in the Disney movies A Bug’s Life and Dinosaur.

She was also nominated for a Young Artist Award for her work in the Lifetime movie If You Believe, and played small parts in Malcolm In The Middle, Ally McBeal and the Law & Order franchise.

In 2006, she made her debut as Claire Bennet in the superhero drama Heroes, and later played the title role in the TV movie Amanda Knox: Murder On Trial In Italy and Juliette Barnes in Nashville, for which she earned a Golden Globe nod.

Those who played Disney’s Kingdom Hearts video games will also have heard Hayden’s voice as the English dub of Kairi.

She later landed the role of Kirby Reed in 2011’s Scream 4, reprising the role in the sixth instalment in 2026.

Hayden’s final projects included the thrillers Amber Alert and Sleepwalker, the latter of which also saw her serving as executive producer.

Earlier this year, she released her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning, in which she spoke candidly about the highs and lows of working in the entertainment industry, including detailed accounts of addiction, abuse and her own mental health struggles.

Three years ago, she lost her brother, fellow former child actor Jansen Panettiere, as a result of cardiomegaly, otherwise known as an enlarged heart.