Inside Hayden Panettiere's Family: Remembering Her Late Brother Jansen and Celebrating Her Daughter with Wladimir Klitschko

HAYDEN Panettiere tragically passed away at the age of 36 on August 16, 2026.

The leaves behind a family that has already suffered devastating loss.

Hayden’s dad Skip Panettiere , saying: “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 – and to the millions who watched her on screen.”

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

The mum-of-one, who would have turned 37 on Friday, had complained of back pain in the months before her death, sources told TMZ .

were reportedly responding to an “incident” involving Hayden when they found her, with investigations still ongoing.

Her family did not give a cause or location of death.

Here is what we know about Hayden’s family.

Jansen Panettiere

Hayden’s brother Jansen, her only sibling, was five years younger than her.

They appeared on screen together twice – in Tiger Cruise (2004) and The Forger (2012).

He also voiced the young Stripes in 2005’s Racing Stripes, in which Hayden played the live-action lead.

aged 28 at his apartment in Nyack, New York, on February 19, 2023.

His family said the medical examiner reported that his sudden death was due to cardiomegaly – an enlarged heart – coupled with aortic valve complications.

In 2024, Hayden told People that she would “never be able to get over” losing him, adding: “When I lost him, I felt like I lost half of my soul.”

Skip Panettiere

Hayden’s dad Alan Lee “Skip” Panettiere is a former New York City firefighter who rose to captain.

He married Hayden’s mum Lesley Vogel in 1987, and the couple were together until she filed for divorce in 2012. He remarried in 2017.

Speaking about her relationship with her dad in May this year, Hayden told US Weekly : “My dad and I have a great relationship.

“I actually went and lived with him and my step mom for a while, where I was born and raised in Rockland County, and felt like being at home regrounded me.

“Being around family reminded me of who I am at my core.”

Lesley Vogel

Hayden’s mum Lesley Vogel, 70, is a former actress who appeared in the show Loving (1984) and the movie Sister Sensei (1994).

She managed her daughter’s career from childhood until Hayden ended the arrangement at 19.

They had been estranged for some time – though each of their accounts differ – and Hayden’s recent memoir caused further friction between the two.

Vogel claimed to Page Six that “the present drama is partially to sell books”, while Hayden told Entertainment Tonight that her mother’s claims were “so false”.

Kaya Evdokia Klitschko

, Hayden’s only child, was born in Hawaii on December 9, 2014.

She has lived with her father in Europe since 2018, when Hayden signed over full custody while seeking treatment for addiction.

Hayden said Klitschko had first raised the idea when Kaya was two, and that she agreed only after concluding the constant travel was hard on her daughter.

Speaking about her daughter, she told CBS Mornings: “I’m so blessed to have a great relationship with her.

“I fly over there as much as I can. I’m on FaceTime with her all the time. She’s now 11 years old, and she’s calling Mommy more and more.”

Wladimir Klitschko

The Ukrainian former world heavyweight champion won Olympic super-heavyweight gold in 1996, and held the WBA, IBF and WBO titles for four years before losing them to Tyson Fury in 2015 and retiring two years later.

and Hayden began dating in 2009, split in 2011, reconciled and became engaged in 2013, but they never married and parted for good in 2018.

In her memoir Hayden called him “one of the most courageous people I’ve ever met and a true hero in so many ways.”

She wrote: “Wlad, you are a wonderful human being and an amazing father to Kaya.”