Hayden Panettiere Biography

Summary

"Hayden Leslie Panettiere" (born August 21, 1989) is an American actress, singer, and Grammy Award nominee. Hayden plays the character Claire Bennet on the NBC television program Heroes. The advertising campaign and slogan for the program known as 'Save the Cheerleader, Save the World' has helped make Hayden famous. She has also appeared as the voice actress for the role of Kairi in the Square Enix "Kingdom Hearts" series.

Biography

Early life

Born in Palisades, New York, Panettiere is the daughter of Lesley R. Vogel, a former soap opera actress, and Alan L. 'Skip' Panettiere, a fire department lieutenant. She has one younger brother, fellow actor Jansen Panettiere.

Panettiere attended South Orangetown Middle School in New York but following 7th grade, finished her high-school education via home schooling and has postponed higher education in favor of an acting career, although she has expressed an interest in 'continuing to learn.'

Career

Actress

Panettiere began modeling at the age of 5 months. She then began appearing in commercials at 11 months, first appearing in an advertisement for Playskool. She landed a role as Sarah Roberts on the ABC soap opera "One Life to Live" (1994- 1997) and later as Lizzie Spaulding on the CBS soap opera "Guiding Light" when she was seven years old (1996 - 2000). While on "Guiding Light", Panettiere's character Lizzie battled leukemia. The show received a Special Recognition Award from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for bringing national awareness of the disease to the attention of daytime viewers.

Panettiere appears as Claire Bennet in the NBC series "Heroes" as a high school cheerleader with regenerative healing powers. Due to her role on "Heroes", she became a regular on the science fiction convention circuit, invited to attend conventions around the world in 2007, including New York Comic-Con and Fan Expo Canada. In regards to the roles she has played, Panettiere admitted that options are sometimes limited because 'people look at her as either the 'popular cheerleader' type or just 'the blonde'.'

She has appeared in over a dozen full-length feature films, as well as several made-for-TV movies. She provided the voice for Dot in the Pixar CGI animated movie "A Bug's Life". She also played the role of Coach Yoast's daughter, Sheryl, in the 2000 Disney film Remember The Titans. In addition, she appeared as the voice of Kairi in the "Kingdom Hearts" series of video games for the Playstation 2. Panettiere appeared on FOX's "Ally McBeal" as Ally McBeal's daughter, and had a recurring guest role on "Malcolm in the Middle" and guest starred in "Law & Order: SVU". She starred in "Bring It On: All or Nothing" as a cheerleader and had a supporting role as Adelaide Bourbon in the recently released independent film "Shanghai Kiss". She also appeared in the Disney Channel Original Movie Tiger Cruise playing the main role of an Navy brat.

She appeared in the upcoming drama film "Fireflies in the Garden" as a younger version of Emily Watson's character, Jane Lawrence. In June 2007, she signed with the William Morris Agency, after previously being represented by United Talent Agency. Forbes estimated that she earned $2 million in 2007.

In early 2007, Panettiere appeared on the syndicated Ashton Kutcher-produced show, Punk'd. The appearance was engineered by her mother and involved a male 'fan' discussing her work with her, instigating a jealous reaction from the man's spouse.

Singer

Panettiere was nominated for a Grammy in 1999 for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for "A Bug's Life Read-Along" 2000. Panettiere is featured on the soundtrack to "Bring It On: All or Nothing" alongside her co-star Solange Knowles. She recorded a song called 'My Hero Is You' with a video for the Disney Channel movie she starred in, "Tiger Cruise". She recorded a song titled 'I Fly' for the Disney movie "Ice Princess" she co-starred in. She recorded a song for the compilation "Girlnext". She also recorded a cover for "Disneymania 5". She recorded a song titled 'Try' for the 2007 Bridge to Terabithia "soundtrack" and a ballad called 'I Still Believe' for "Cinderella III: A Twist in Time".

Endorsement

In late 2006, Neutrogena made Panettiere the cover girl for their new worldwide ad campaign; following in the footsteps of actresses Kristin Kreuk, Josie Bissett, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Mandy Moore, Mischa Barton, Gabrielle Union and Jennifer Freeman.

In September 2007, Panettiere appeared in a "Heroes"-themed Got Milk? ad photographed by Annie Leibovitz.

In February 2008, Kohl's announced that Panettiere would be their next Candie's spokesperson. She will be following the likes of Fergie and Hilary Duff.

Personal life

In 2006, Panettiere began dating Stephen Colletti, the former "Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County", star. The couple broke up in September 2007. In December 2007, it was widely reported that she was dating her "Heroes" costar Milo Ventimiglia, though Panettiere has denied these reports in an interview with "GQ". These reports have continued through the early part of 2008, and several sources have reported that Panettiere has asked Ventimiglia to move in with her.. On Tuesday 22 April 2008, Milo confirmed on the BBC radio one Breakfast Show that he is indeed dating Hayden Panettiere.

Activism

On October 31, 2007, Panettiere participated in the activity of Sea Shepherd to try to disrupt the annual dolphin hunt in Taiji, Wakayama, Japan. But, she was involved in a confrontation between Japanese fishermen and five other surfers from Australia and the United States (including former "Home and Away" star Isabel Lucas) of the group. The confrontation lasted more than ten minutes before the surfers were forced to return to the beach, after which they left the country. The fishermen consider the condemnation as an attack on their culture.

Panettiere told "E! News" that an arrest warrant has been issued in Japan for her interference in the dolphin hunt. In November 2007, she was awarded the 'Compassion in Action Award' from the animal rights group PETA for her efforts to stop the dolphin hunt in Japan. She is also a vegetarian. (... more)

On January 28, 2008, Panettiere handed a letter of protest to the Norwegian ambassador in the United States arguing that Norway should stop its hunt for whales. She also delivered a letter to the Japanese ambassador calling for the end of Japan's hunting of whales.

In 2007, Panettiere became an official supporter of Ronald McDonald House Charities and is a member of their celebrity board, called the Friends of RMHC.