Actress Hayden Panettiere dead at 36

[Bewitchingstorm]

Hayden Panettiere, the star of popular TV series including Heroes and Nashville, has died at age 36.

Panettiere's father, Skip, announced the actor's death in a statement provided to ABC News on 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," his statement said.

The cause of death has not yet been announced. Her publicist, Kasey Kitchen, told NBC News, "There's an investigation ongoing. We should know more tomorrow."

Police in Greenville, S.C., said in a statement that officers "accompanied by EMS personnel, responded to a report of an unresponsive female" at about 1:50 p.m. on Sunday.

The statement added, "Upon arrival, medical assistance was administered; however, the individual, later identified as Hayden Panettiere, was pronounced deceased at the scene."

Panettiere, who would have turned 37 on Friday, began her career as a child actor in commercials and soap operas. ⁠She gained recognition voicing Dot, the young princess ant in Pixar's 1998 animated hit, A Bug's Life. ​

Her work on the film's read-along album earned a Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Word ​Album for Children.

She was propelled to fame with her role as a cheerleader with superpowers in Heroes, which premiered on NBC in 2006.

She later played an up-and-coming country singer on Nashville.

She did her own singing in the show, which scored some hits on country charts and earned Panettiere two Golden Globe nominations.

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