Hayden Panettiere beamed in playful snap with pal weeks before her death at 36

“Heroes” star Hayden Panettiere was beaming in a playful snap shared weeks before her death at 36. 

The New York-born actress winked and stuck out her tongue in the close-up black-and-white picture taken with her photographer friend Randall Slavin, who had his arms around her.

“Good times and good friends,” she captioned the July 27 snap.

Speaking to TMZ on Monday, Slavin noted that the picture was taken over 15 years ago at a friend’s house and resurfaced when he found it on a hard drive and texted it to her.

He also told the outlet that the two met socially many years ago, but they were not close in recent years. Slavin also said he saw her in passing more than a year ago.

Panettiere’s sudden death was announced by her father, Skip, on Sunday night.

“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 on-screen,” he said in a statement to Page Six. “We ask for privacy as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss.”

A cause of death has yet to be revealed, but a source close to the actress told TMZ she had been complaining about back pain during the past year.

The outlet also reported that Panettiere and her on-again, off-again boyfriend Brian Hickerson had boarded a flight out of Los Angeles on Saturday. Hickerson’s family is said to be aware of Panettiere’s death, according to TMZ sources. 

Panettiere leaves behind her 11-year-old daughter Kaya, whom she shared with the former heavyweight boxer Wladimir Klitschko.

She gave birth to Kaya in 2014 before relinquishing custody of her only child amid her struggles with addiction and postpartum depression four years later.

“I mean, it was the worst signing those [custody] papers, the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever, ever had to do in my life,” she told “Red Table Talk” in September 2022.

Klitschko has not yet spoken out about her death.

“Nashville” star Panettiere, born in August 1989, appeared in commercials as a child before landing roles on soap operas such as “One Life to Live” in 1994 and “Guiding Light” in 1997.

“My introduction to acting was actually at 11 months old,” Panettiere told “Entertainment Tonight” in 2023. 

“Playskool Toy Train was my first commercial, but I don’t know if that would really be an introduction to acting, because I don’t think acting was involved at that point. I didn’t have lines, I was just playing.”

She was best known for her roles as cheerleader Claire Bennet on “Heroes” and country music star Juliette Barnes on “Nashville.”

Panettiere played Kirby Reed in the 2011 film “Scream 4,” a role she would reprise in “Scream VI” in 2023.

She also starred in the comedy drama “Ally McBeal” in 2002 and “I Love You, Beth Cooper” in 2009.

Her final credited acting role came in the Brandon Auman psychological thriller “Sleepwalker,” which was released in January and starred Justin Chatwin and Beverly D’Angelo.

If you or someone you care about is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).