Soap Opera History

Hayden Panettiere Facts: Celebrities Who Started On Soaps

Published by

Shado Saeyang

5 years ago

Hayden Panettiere began her career as a child actor on a couple of soaps, but she quickly established a name for herself and has landed a number of film and TV roles well into adulthood.

Panettiere has appeared in films such as Remember the Titans, Raising Helen, and Ice Princess, as well as shows such as Heros and Nashville. From where she was born and raised to becoming a Grammy nominee, here are five fast facts about the actress.

Who Is Hayden Panettiere?

Panettiere was born on August 21 in Palisades, New York, to actress Lesley Vogel (ex-Edie Donovan, Loving) and fire department lieutenant Alan L. Skip Panettiere. She attended South Orangetown Middle School in New York, but then began homeschooling. Because she started acting at such a young age, she had private tutors who worked with her throughout high school.

Soap Beginnings
Panettiere actually started acting when she was just 11 months old. She got the role of Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live and was on the show from 1994 to 1997. Following that role, she got the part of troubled Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light, which she was on from 1996 to 2000.

Animal Activist
Along with being an actress, Panettiere is also an animal rights activist. In fact, she protested against the killing of dolphins in Japan back in 2017 by paddling out to a pod and preventing them from entering a cove where they would be killed. This protest was covered in the documentary, The Cove.

Grammy Nominee

Panettiere has also had a successful music career and she was nominated for a Grammy in 1999 thanks to her work in the animated film, A Bug’s Life. She has recorded a number of songs for various Disney projects, including a cover of Cruella De Vil, and she also released her own song called Wake Up Call. Not to be forgotten, she released a lot of music when she was working on the TV show Nashville.

Getting Personal With Hayden Panettiere
Panettiere dated her Heros co-star Milo Ventimiglia (now Jack on This Is Us) from December 2007 to February 2009. She then started dating boxer Wladimir Klitschko in 2009. She gave birth to their daughter in December of 2014, but the couple split in August 2018.