The untimely death of Hayden Panettiere, a onetime child star who soared to fame while navigating addiction and postpartum depression in her adult life, came just months after the beloved actor described feeling ready to start over. Though she became a household name on television and film, Panettiere faced the sometimes unforgiving glare of Hollywood’s spotlight, describing her experiences with domestic violence, motherhood and loss under intense scrutiny. Now, as her family, friends and fans mourn, questions remain about what happened in the actress’ final hours before her death at age 36, far from home at an apartment in South Carolina. Here’s a look back at Panettiere’s life and career: 1990 At just 11 months old, Panettiere appears as an infant in a Playskool toy train commercial — the first of many times she is placed under the spotlight. 1996 Panettiere, then 7, joins the cast of the soap opera “Guiding Light,” playing the popular role of Lizzie Spaulding. The show, which Panettiere worked on until 2000, was the longest-running television drama focused on several families in the fictional Midwestern town of Springfield. Panettiere later says the extreme plot lines — she played a child who got kidnapped, killed another character and survived leukemia — were not “good for my developing brain.” “Subconsciously, I began to associate catastrophe with adoration,” she wrote in her memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” which released earlier this year. “People loved me when make-believe bad things happened to me.” 2005 Panettiere plays the role of Gen Harwood, a competitive teenage figure skater whose mother, played by Kim Cattrall, also serves as her coach in Disney’s “Ice Princess.” Her character initially serves as a rival to Michelle Trachtenberg’s character before the two eventually become friends. Trachtenberg died in 2025 at 39 from complications of diabetes mellitus. 2006 At 17 years old, Panettiere lands her breakout role on “Heroes,” a critically acclaimed network television show about ordinary people who have extraordinary superpowers. She plays an invincible cheerleader named Claire Bennet, a central character on the NBC drama, with the tagline, “Save the cheerleader, save the world.” While many viewers praise the former child star as the beating heart of the series, her newfound success comes with heightened tabloid scrutiny, the coverage wading into everything from her looks to her love life. 2012 The rising star joins the cast of “Nashville,” the soapy primetime drama in which she plays Juliette Barnes, an emerging yet troubled country singer. The show features storylines about alcoholism and postpartum depression — topics that hit close to home for Panettiere, she would later say. Panettiere performed multiple songs as Juliette throughout the drama’s six seasons, including recordings that made their way onto Billboard’s country charts. December 9, 2014 Panettiere gives birth to her daughter, Kaya, with former fiancé and boxer Wladimir Klitschko. Shortly after, Panettiere struggles with postpartum depression, and her substance abuse issues resurface. She would later describe feeling at the time like there is “something seriously wrong with me.” “I wish somebody told me it’s okay if you give birth to your child and you’re not immediately like, ‘Oh my god, I love you more than anything in the entire world right now.’ It’s okay and not abnormal,” she says. 2018 Panettiere sends her daughter to live with Klitschko in Ukraine, a decision she called “the hardest thing I ever had to do.” “But I wanted to be a good mom to her – and sometimes that means letting them go,” she says. 2019 In May, a Brian Hickerson is charged in California with a felony count of “Injuring a Spouse, Cohabitant, Fiance’s, Boyfriend, Girlfriend or Child’s Parent,” according to documents from the Superior Court of Los Angeles County Clerk’s Office. Panettiere later wrote in her 2026 memoir about a relationship that escalated into domestic violence by a man she referred to only as “Brian.” 2021 Hickerson, after a plea agreement, is convicted of two felony counts of “Injuring a Spouse, Cohabitant, Fiance’s, Boyfriend, Girlfriend or Child’s Parent,” in connection with offenCes dating back to May 2019, according to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County Clerk’s Office. He would be sentenced to four years of formal probation, according to the clerk’s office. 2022 Panettiere tells People that when she was 15, someone on her team began offering her “happy pills” before red carpets – “to make me peppy during interviews,” she says. “I had no idea what door that would open for me when it came to my addiction.” February 19, 2023 Jansen Panettiere, Hayden Panettiere’s brother and a voice actor, dies at age 28 from an enlarged heart with aortic valve complications. “There was nothing in my life that feels like losing my other half,” Panettiere tells podcaster Jay Shetty in a 2026 interview. “We were so close, and being the older sibling – who it’s your job to protect them and keep them safe – and not being able to, heartbreaking doesn’t even begin to cover it.” May 1, 2026 Hayden Panettiere says she has “been dealing with an injury for the past year,” in an interview with Women’s Health. She describes experiencing “some nerve damage” in her lower back and “feeling nothing but pins and needles” from her waist down. May 11, 2026 Panettiere appears on Jay Shetty’s “On Purpose” podcast, where she opens up about themes discussed in her memoir “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” including the challenges of being a child star and her struggles with addiction. Panettiere also discusses the separation of her parents when she was 18 and how her mother also served as her manager, blurring the lines between family and business. Panettiere tells Shetty she and her mother no longer speak. “There is not a relationship between her and I, sadly.” But despite what she’s been through, she tells Shetty she feels like she has “shaken off all of this darkness and this negativity.” “I feel like I have a lot more life to live,” she says. May 19 Just three months before her death, Panettiere releases her candid memoir detailing the progression of a once-exciting, new relationship that quickly escalated into years of domestic violence. The actress writes about heated – and often drunken – arguments that ended with “Brian” slapping and hitting her between screams: “One night he busts up my face so badly I don’t leave the house for weeks.” “You never forget the first time someone slaps you,” she writes. “Nor do you forget the last,” she says. Panettiere writes about at least three different instances in which “Brian” was arrested after he’d hit her during a fight, including on Valentine’s Day in 2020 while the couple was on vacation in Wyoming. In May 2026, Brian Hickerson speaks with TMZ about Panettiere’s memoir and acknowledges that he “had a lot to drink, and I got physical with (Panettiere), and I got arrested” on February 14, 2020. He calls the parts of the book detailing domestic violence “my chapter” and says, “Everybody should read it.” Sunday, August 16 Medics respond to a 911 call around 1:51 p.m. at a residence in Greenville and find Panettiere in cardiac arrest, according to theGreenville County Coroner’s Office. Dispatch audio obtained from Broadcastify.com suggests a possible overdose and CPR in progress, though authorities have not addressed whether an overdose actually happened. A Greenville police officer arrives and interviews brothers Brian and Zach Hickerson, who said they called 911, a police report states. “I spoke with Zach Hickerson first. He advised this was his brother’s girlfriend,” the officer writes in the report. Emergency personnel attempt to resuscitate Panettiere, but she is pronounced dead at the scene at 2:32 p.m., according to the coroner’s office. Zach Hickerson later told TMZ in a statement the brothers had tried waking Panettiere up from a nap in the living room when they noticed she was unconscious. “I immediately called 911 and Brian gave her Narcan. We then jointly performed CPR while 911 was on speaker until Fire and EMS arrived,” he said. “At that point we watched as they tried every measure possible to save her life.” That day, Brian Hickerson shows the officer a bag of Panettiere’s medications, the police report said. But many details of the police report are redacted, including a list of Panettiere’s medications. The responding officer says he was wearing a body camera during the incident, though the footage has not yet been publicly released. Monday, August 17 An autopsy reveals no signs of trauma that would have contributed to her death, the coroner’s office said. Panettiere’s official cause and manner of death have not been determined, as additional testing results are pending. Toxicology tests, which are standard in many death investigations, can take weeks to complete. Tributes to Panettiere pour in from past colleagues, including Viola Davis, Kim Cattrall and Rosie O’Donnell — along with many others. “What an amazing talent you were….so gifted,” Davis writes on Instagram. “I wish the world had more time with you because I had a burning curiosity about who you were becoming.” Tuesday, August 18 Panettiere’s body is released to the mortuary her family chose, the Greenville County Coroner’s Office says. That same day, Klitschko writes in a statement posted to X that the family is “going through a time of profound shock and grief” while processing Panettiere’s death. “She built an incredible career through immense talent, while also facing the darker sides of a very demanding industry,” the statement says. “Young and talented people like Hayden should not leave this world so soon,” it adds. Thursday, August 20 The federal Drug Enforcement Administration, which enforces the nation’s controlled substances drug laws, joins the investigation into Hayden Panettiere’s death, according to reports from the New York Times and ABC News. Authorities have not addressed whether Panettiere overdosed Sunday. Friday, August 21 Panettiere would have celebrated her 37th birthday on this day. Klitschko pays tribute to the mother of their child in a heartfelt post on X, saying instead of “celebrating the way we had planned, today we celebrate her life, her spirit and the love that she brought into this world.” He thanks people for reaching out with love and support and concludes by wishing Panettiere a happy birthday and saying, “you are loved, you are missed, and you will never be forgotten.” The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
