How did Panettiere’s career begin?

Panettiere began appearing on camera as an infant, including in commercials, before landing her first recurring television role on Guiding Light in 1996. The show was the longest-running television drama centred on multiple families in a fictional Midwestern town.

In her 2026 memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning, Panettiere reflected on the effect of the show’s dramatic storylines, including kidnapping and illness plots, on her childhood. She wrote that she came to associate misfortune with being loved.

What roles brought her to fame?

A year later, at 17, she landed her breakout role in NBC’s Heroes, playing Claire Bennet, a cheerleader with regenerative powers who became one of the show’s best-known characters.

In her memoir, Panettiere described the intense scrutiny she faced from tabloids as her fame grew, including attention to her appearance and private life.

The Guardian also identifies Heroes as her breakout role.A year later, at 17, she landed her breakout role on NBC’s “Heroes,” playing an indestructible cheerleader in the acclaimed series about ordinary people with extraordinary abilities. While the show’s fans embraced her as one of its standout performers, her rising profile also brought intense tabloid attention focused on her appearance and personal life.

In 2012, Panettiere joined Nashville as Juliette Barnes, a young country singer whose storylines included alcoholism and postpartum depression, subjects that later became closely connected to Panettiere’s own experiences.

What challenges did she face as a new mother?

Panettiere gave birth to her daughter, Kaya, in December 2014 with her former fiancé, boxer Wladimir Klitschko. She later spoke publicly about experiencing postpartum depression and struggling with substance use during that period.

In 2018, Panettiere sent her daughter to live with Klitschko in Ukraine, calling it one of the hardest decisions of her life but one she felt was necessary to be a good parent.

What did Panettiere say about domestic violence?

Panettiere wrote extensively about her abusive relationship with Brian Hickerson in her memoir. Hickerson faced multiple domestic-violence cases involving Panettiere and pleaded no contest in 2021 to two felony counts of injuring a spouse or girlfriend. He received four years of probation.

In her memoir, Panettiere described violent incidents in the relationship and multiple arrests involving Hickerson, including a 2020 incident in Wyoming.

Hickerson later told TMZ he’d been drinking and got physical with her that day, calling the memoir’s account “my chapter.” Separately, Panettiere’s brother Jansen died in February 2023 at 28 from heart complications; she later told Jay Shetty losing him felt like nothing else she’d experienced.

What did she say in the weeks before her death?

Panettiere told Women’s Health in May that she had been managing a back injury for the past year that caused nerve damage and numbness. In May, while promoting her memoir, Panettiere spoke with Jay Shetty about her childhood, family relationships and personal struggles. She also spoke about feeling that she had moved beyond much of her past and had more life ahead of her.

What happened on the day of her death?

Emergency responders were called to a residence in Greenville, South Carolina, on August 16 after a 911 call around 1:51 p.m., and found Panettiere in cardiac arrest. CNN reported that dispatch audio referenced a possible overdose, but authorities have not confirmed that an overdose occurred.

The Washington Post independently reported that Brian Hickerson and his brother Zach were at the apartment and called 911.

Zach Hickerson told TMZ that he and Brian had gone to wake Panettiere from a nap and found her unresponsive. He said Brian administered Narcan and that the brothers performed CPR before paramedics arrived.

The police report noted Hickerson showed officers a bag of Panettiere’s medications, though most identifying details were redacted. The responding officer confirmed he was wearing a body camera, though that footage has not been made public.

What has the investigation found so far?

An autopsy found no signs of trauma, and her cause of death remains undetermined pending toxicology results. Tributes came in from Viola Davis, Kim Cattrall and Rosie O’Donnell, and her body was released to her family’s mortuary on August 18, the same day Klitschko praised her talent in a statement.

The DEA joined the investigation on August 20, though an overdose has not been confirmed. Panettiere would have turned 37 on August 21; Klitschko marked the day online, saying the family chose to honour her life and spirit.