So sad. I always thought she was a great actress. RIP Hayden.

Hayden Panettiere dies at 36

Actress Hayden Panettiere has died, her representative confirmed to ABC News. She was 36 years old.

"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," her rep said in a statement.

Further details surrounding Panettiere's death were not immediately available.

OMG that's so sad. I always think of her as little Lizzie Spaulding. She had a rough time of it.

Truly heartbreaking. She was a great actress. She was so good as little Lizzie on GL and you could tell she was so excited to just be there and say her lines.

RIP❤️

I noticed her Guiding Light time is not mentioned. I remember her recently appearing on The View where she said that she and her mother were not on speaking terms. It's sad a mother would do this. She's gone and her mother probably never reached out to her.

May she rest in peace. Gone way too soon.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C6kIFGG7liI

Edited Monday at 03:20 AM5 days by Soapsuds

I just saw this and was utterly shocked. Though, if I recall, Ms. Panettiere has been struggling for some time. Still, 36 is just too damn young.

Edit: Besides Guiding Light, I believe she also got her start on...I think it was Loving.

Edit 2: Nope, One Life To Live. Apparently, her mother did work on Loving, though.

I hope she has found peace, and I send prayers to her loved ones.

Edited Monday at 04:27 AM5 days by Wendy

May she rest in peace. Two photos from 2007.

How awful. May she rest in peace.

I used to see her and her Mom in SoHo a lot when she was on Guiding Light. What a sweet young lady.

This is truly heartbreaking.

36 is far too young to go.

Hayden had so many troubles, which I know she spoke about a great deal. Yet in my mind she is often still the girl I saw on GL, adding some meaning to even the most dubious of story choices, like the one where she held a sword to "slay the dragon" of cancer. She was remarkably poised and talented from her earliest days as little Sarah on OLTL.

The scene I remember most with her was in the Doris Duke TV-movie from the late '90s. She played a young Doris. At one point, her guardians, who wanted to traumatize her because she pushed back against the repressive life she had to lead, showed her a bag of all the death and kidnapping threats sent to her. She wept, and you wanted to weep too.

I'm so sorry for everything Hayden was put through. I hope she knew how much she meant to many people.

Yeah, she had a really rough life and transition to adulthood. Hope she’s finally at peace.

Very shocking, yet like Michelle Trachtenberg not that shocking. Hayden had struggled with serious issues for many years (which she wrote about in her memoir) and I had hoped the idle talk that she was still struggling recently was untrue. I don't know now if it was or wasn't.

I had never liked Hayden much in her most famous roles - Heroes, GL - because I found them a bit too saccharine for me. It was later I gained real respect and admiration for her in the Scream films, where she all but stole the fourth picture before having a strong return in Scream 6. Her character was originally intended to have been killed off in 4 and this happened onscreen, but fan adoration for Kirby meant they never officially confirmed she didn't survive her wounds which allowed them to cheat a bit and bring her back for a loyal audience a few years ago. I was very happy for her. She had real grit and charisma as a scream queen, probably grit closer to who she really was based on her own writing.

She'll be missed.

Oh f**k no not Hayden…. 😢😢😢this one really is so unbelievable to me…I thought it was just confirmed she was gonna be in Scream 8…..I basically grew up watching her over the years and while I only became aware how hard of a life she really had just recently, you are still never prepared for this news….😢😢😢

I pray she’s finally at peace! 🙏🙏

Edited Monday at 04:48 AM5 days by YRfan23

I'm shocked. She'll always be Lizzie for me. I'm so sorry...

RIP Hayden Panettiere. So close to her birthday (August 21) too. Her younger brother passed away in 2023, so her parents have lost both of their children.

Wow. I had been hoping she'd get it together as I knew there was talk about spinning her Scream character off into its own franchise. RIP.