Hayden Panettiere, star of popular television series including Heroes and Nashville, has died. She was 36.

Panettiere’s father, Skip Panettiere, announced the actor’s death in a statement provided to ABC News Sunday.

“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 father, Skip Panettiere, said in a statement.

Her father asked for privacy “as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss.”

No cause of death was announced, and a publicist for Hayden Panettiere did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press.

 

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Panettiere had a prolific career dating to 1996, and her credits included the voice of Dot in A Bug’s Life, Remember the Titans and Scream VI. Her role as a cheerleader with superpowers in Heroes propelled her to fame, with the series revolving around the mantra “Save the cheerleader, save the world.”

She had been open about her struggles with alcohol addiction and depression, including after the birth of her daughter in 2014. She is the mother to one child, her daughter Kaya Klitschko, whom she had in 2014 with her ex-fiancé, heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.

 

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In a memoir published this year, titled This Is Me: A Reckoning, she wrote about her decision to give full custody of her daughter to her former partner, boxer Wladimir Klitschko.

Her brother, Jansen Panettiere, died suddenly in February 2023 from cardiomegaly (enlarged heart) coupled with aortic valve complications, his family said in a statement at the time. He was 28.