{"id":2097116,"date":"2026-08-17T09:26:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T06:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2097116"},"modified":"2026-08-17T09:26:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T06:26:17","slug":"heroes-and-until-dawn-star-hayden-panettiere-dies-aged-36","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2097116","title":{"rendered":"Heroes and Until Dawn star Hayden Panettiere dies aged 36"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Heroes and Until Dawn star Hayden Panettiere dies aged 36<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">&#8220;She was an incredible light and a force of nature.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/hayden-panettiere-until-dawn.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"A blonde teenage girl looks with furrowed brows up at something we can&apos;t see.\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"hayden-panettiere-until-dawn.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Supermassive<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Robert Purchese avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/user-9946-originalxoriginal-14-03-23.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1017\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Robert Purchese avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"user-9946-originalxoriginal-14-03-23.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1017\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/robert-purchese\">Robert Purchese<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Associate Editor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\n<p>Published on   <time datetime=\"2026-08-17T09:26:17+00:00\" data-auto-time-zone=\"true\" data-year=\"numeric\" data-month=\"short\" data-day=\"numeric\" data-hour=\"numeric\" data-minute=\"numeric\">Aug. 17, 2026, 9:26 a.m.<\/time>\n              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/hayden-panettiere-heroes-until-dawn-dies?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          11 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"a09a50fc-db40-4af2-a2f6-0d331acdbe1f\" data-name=\"Kingdom Hearts\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Kingdom Hearts\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Kingdom Hearts\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Kingdom Hearts\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Kingdom Hearts\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Kingdom Hearts\" title=\"Follow Kingdom Hearts\"><br \/>\n  Follow Kingdom Hearts<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Hayden Panettiere &#8211; the actor who shot to fame as the cheerleader in TV superhero show Heroes &#8211; has died aged 36.<\/p>\n<p>Panettiere&#8217;s death was confirmed on Sunday night and no cause of death was given. &#8220;It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,&#8221; her father Skip Panettiere said in a statement received by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/tv-and-radio\/2026\/aug\/17\/hayden-panettiere-death-heroes-nashville-scream-star-dies-at-36\">The Guardian<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;She was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her \u2014 and to the millions who watched her onscreen.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Until Dawn - Official PS5 and PC Launch Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QzvpK2rwmOA?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/QzvpK2rwmOA\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Until Dawn &#8211; Official PS5 and PC Launch Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Until Dawn.<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QzvpK2rwmOA\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Panettiere received two Golden Globe nominations for her performance as a troubled country music star in the show Nashville &#8211; nearly a dozen music songs from which charted on a music billboard &#8211; and she appeared in two Scream films after 2011: Scream 4 and Scream 6.<\/p>\n<p>But it was for the 2006-2010 superhero show Heroes that Paniettiere was probably best known, as the cheerleader Claire Bennett at the heart of the story and central to the show&#8217;s mantra: &#8220;Save the cheerleader, save the world.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Panettiere also had some notable roles in games. She starred alongside Rami Malek in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/until-dawn-at-10-how-supermassive-overcame-sony-scepticism-and-used-the-science-of-fear-to-make-a-modern-horror-classic\">open-ended, choice-and-consequence horror Until Dawn<\/a>, which she provided voice and motion-capture for. She was also the voice of Kairi in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/kingdom-hearts\">Kingdom Hearts<\/a> series of games.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year, Panettiere released a memoir titled This is Me: A Reckoning, documenting her struggles with fame at a young age, postpartum depression, addiction and recovery. She had a daughter with Ukrainian heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Kitschko in 2014, who has lived with her father since 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Rest in peace, Hayden, and thank you.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"poll_wrapper\" data-fixed=\"true\" data-hashid data-init=\"false\" data-poll-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Hayden Panettiere &#8211; the actor who shot to fame as the cheerleader in TV superhero show Heroes &#8211; has died aged 36.<\/p>\n<p>Panettiere&#8217;s death was confirmed on Sunday night and no cause of death was given. &#8220;It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,&#8221; her father Skip Panettiere said in a statement received by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/tv-and-radio\/2026\/aug\/17\/hayden-panettiere-death-heroes-nashville-scream-star-dies-at-36\">The Guardian<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;She was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her \u2014 and to the millions who watched her onscreen.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Until Dawn - Official PS5 and PC Launch Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QzvpK2rwmOA?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/QzvpK2rwmOA\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Until Dawn &#8211; Official PS5 and PC Launch Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Until Dawn.<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QzvpK2rwmOA\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Panettiere received two Golden Globe nominations for her performance as a troubled country music star in the show Nashville &#8211; nearly a dozen music songs from which charted on a music billboard &#8211; and she appeared in two Scream films after 2011: Scream 4 and Scream 6.<\/p>\n<p>But it was for the 2006-2010 superhero show Heroes that Paniettiere was probably best known, as the cheerleader Claire Bennett at the heart of the story and central to the show&#8217;s mantra: &#8220;Save the cheerleader, save the world.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Panettiere also had some notable roles in games. She starred alongside Rami Malek in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/until-dawn-at-10-how-supermassive-overcame-sony-scepticism-and-used-the-science-of-fear-to-make-a-modern-horror-classic\">open-ended, choice-and-consequence horror Until Dawn<\/a>, which she provided voice and motion-capture for. She was also the voice of Kairi in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/kingdom-hearts\">Kingdom Hearts<\/a> series of games.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year, Panettiere released a memoir titled This is Me: A Reckoning, documenting her struggles with fame at a young age, postpartum depression, addiction and recovery. She had a daughter with Ukrainian heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Kitschko in 2014, who has lived with her father since 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Rest in peace, Hayden, and thank you.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"poll_wrapper\" data-fixed=\"true\" data-hashid data-init=\"false\" data-poll-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Heroes and Until Dawn star Hayden Panettiere dies aged 36 &#8220;She was an incredible light and a force of nature.&#8221; Image credit: Supermassive News by Robert Purchese Associate Editor Published on Aug. 17, 2026, 9:26 a.m. 11 comments Follow Kingdom Hearts Hayden Panettiere &#8211; the actor who shot to fame as the cheerleader [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-2097116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2097116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2097116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2097116\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2097116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2097116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2097116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}