Palisades, New York native Hayden Panetierre dies in Greenville, South Carolina

Hayden Lesley Vogel Panettiere was an American actor and singer of Italian, German, and English descent. She was born in Palisades, New York, United States to Alan Lee “Skip” Panetierre and Lesley R. Vogel.

Skip is a captain in the fire department of New York City, New York. Vogel is a former daytime television soap opera actor.

BIOGRAPHY

An alumna of South Orangetown Middle School in Blauvelt, New York, Hayden left traditional classroom schooling after eighth grade. She graduated from high school after completing homeschooling programs.

Hayden’s brother Jansen Rane Panettiere was also an actor born in Palisades. Here are 13 more things about her:

1. In 1990, she appeared in an advertisement for a Playskool toy train, which was her first commercial.
2. From 1994 to 1997, she played Sarah Roberts in the ABC series “One Life to Live”.
3. From 1996 to 2000, she played Lizzie Spaulding in the CBS soap opera “Guiding Light”.
4. From 2006 to 2010, she played Claire Bennet in the NBC series “Heroes”.
5. From 2007 to 2009, she dated her “Heroes” co-star Milo Ventimiglia.
6. In 2009, she met Wladimir Klitschko at launch party for Diana Jenkins‘ book “Room 23”.
7. She and Klischko dated from 2009 to 2011 and from 2013 to 2018.
8. In 2011, she starred in the TV film “Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy”.
9. From 2012 to 2018, she played Juliette Barnes in the ABC series “Nashville”.
10. In 2014, she gave birth to Kaya Evdokia Klitschko and endured postpartum depression.
11. In 2015, she entered rehab while filming “Nashville”.
12. While she was struggling with mental health and addiction, her daughter Kaya started living with Wladimir in Ukraine in 2016.
13. In 2018, she met Brian Hickerson at a restaurant in West Hollywood, California, USA and their on-and-off relationship started.
14. In 2019, Hickerson was accused of physically abusing her and arrested but the case was later dismissed.
15. In 2026, her book “This Is Me: A Reckoning” was published months before her death in Greenville, South Carolina, USA.

TIMELINE

Hayden was 5’0″ tall. As a singer, she did not have a studio album but she had singles and compilation albums and she often sang the soundtracks for the movies in which she also starred.

2000s

• In December 2007, she started dating Ventimiglia.
• In February 2009, she and Ventimiglia broke up.

2010s

• She played the title role in “Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy”, which first aired on Lifetime on February 21, 2011.
• On December 9, 2014, she gave birth to Kaya.

2020s

• On September 25, 2022, her brother Jansen turned 26.
• On February 19, 2023, her brother Jansen died of aortic valve complications arising from cardiomegaly in Nyack, New York.
• She played Sarah Pangborn in Brandon Auman‘s psychological thriller film “Sleepwalker”, which was released on January 9, 2026. It was her final film role.
• On May 19, 2026, Grand Central Publishing published her book “This is Me: A Reckoning”, in which she came out as bisexual.
• On August 16, 2026, a police officer responded to an apartment in Greenville where she was found unresponsive. The officer was met by Hickerson and his brother Zach Hickerson. According to the officer, Zach was very emotional while emergency medical services (EMS) workers were working on her and Brian did not become emotional until they declared her officially deceased at 2:31 p.m.