Guiding Light and One Life to Live Actress Hayden Panettiere is dead at 36

The entertainment industry has lost another icon. The bright light that was Hayden Panettiere is no more. The talented actress passed away at 36. in Greenville, South Carolina on Sunday August 16.

No foul play is suspected and news reports acknowledged that she dealt with depression but no official cause of death has been released.

One of the most difficult aspects of the entertainment business is when talented young actors who make us laugh, cry or angry with their characters are having private mental health battles. We enjoy their work but are unaware of the burdens they bear.

Panettiere was best known for starring in Heroes, Nashville, Bring it On and as Cheryl Yost in Remember the Titans with Denzel Washington. She received a Grammy nomination for voice work in A Bug's Life, and was also a child star on two soap operas.

Long-time soap fans will recall that when she was only 4, Hayden had the role of Sarah Roberts of One Life to Live. She portrayed the daughter of Cord Roberts and Tina Lord from 1994 to 1997.

In 1996, Panettiere joined the cast Guiding Light, where she portrayed Lizzie Spaulding the daughter of Phillip Spaulding and Beth Raines. from 1996 to 2000. Beth Chamberlin who portrayed Hayden's soap mom called her the most brilliant child actor

Lizzie had a rough life. Her parents did not remain together and in 1998 she accidentally shot and killed her mother's abusive boyfriend, Carl Stevens. In 2000, she was diagnosed with Leukemia.

Guiding Light received a Special Recognition Award from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for bringing national awareness of the disease to the attention of soap opera viewers.

The actress was born Hayden Lesley Panettiere on Aug. 21, 1989. Her mother is former soap actress Lesley Vogel who played Edie Leslie Donovan on Loving.

Her father Alan Lee Panettiere is a New York City Fire Department captain. Hayden's younger brother, Jansen, died at age 28 in 2023 from an enlarged heart.

Panettiere had a long-term relationship with world heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko. They broke up and got back together but in 2018 they split for good and remained on friendly terms.

That same year, Hayden relinquished full custody of their daughter, Kaya, to Klitschko due to her struggles with postpartum depression and addiction.

She called the decision a "living nightmare" and "heartbreaking" but necessary for her recovery. She maintained a good co-parenting relationship with Klitschko and frequently visited her daughter.

Wikipedia.

For Disney, she voiced Dot in the 1998 Disney/Pixar film A Bug's Life, Suri in the 2000 CGI film Dinosaur, and Yumi in the Fillmore! episode "Codename: Electric Haircut". She also voiced Kairi in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, She later returned as Kairi and Xion in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, and voiced Xion in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance;

Disney Wiki

Fans of the Scream franchise will recall that Panettiere appeared as a character named Kirby Reed in Scream 4 (2011) and Scream VI (2023). She did a voice cameo in Scream (2022). Her last film role was Sleepwalkers which was released in select theaters in January of this year.

It took a lot of courage for Panettiere to decide to send her daughter to live abroad while she worked on her mental health and addiction issues. It's a tragedy that she and her brother died so young.

Condolences to all who are mourning the untimely death of the talented actress. Be on the lookout for updated information about Hayden Panettiere as it become available.