Hayden Panettiere’s death prompts Melissa Gilbert to call for child star protections

Actress Melissa Glibert, who began acting as a child herself, reflected on the deaths of Panettiere, Michelle Trachtenberg and Daveigh Chase in a new essay. She called for greater protection from intrusive media attention and urged former child stars to unite and push Hollywood studios and networks toward systemic change.

Melissa Glibert demands change for child actors after Hayden Paetteiere's death

In a personal essay published recently, Melissa Gilbert reflected on the loss of Panettiere along with fellow former child actresses Michelle Trachtenberg and Daveigh Chase. Although she said she did not know Panettiere personally and had only worked briefly with Trachtenberg and Chase, their deaths struck a deeply personal chord because Gilbert also grew up as a child performer.

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She wrote, “Michelle Trachtenberg, Daveigh Chase and Hayden Panettiere have died. DIED. Three former female child actors of the same generation are gone. Tragically, heartbreakingly, agonisingly too soon. They are gone, and the question I have been turning over and over in my head is, ‘WHY?’ Why are these three sweet, wildly talented, vibrant, vital young women gone?” she wrote. “And why does this all feel so personal to me?”

She further said, "We are all members of the same tribe; Female Former Child Performers, and when one of us dies, it runs through all of us like an electrical current. When three of us die so close together, something is very, very wrong."

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Gilbert proposed that studio and network heads sit down to have serious conversations about mitigating exploitation. She even advocated for accessible, free mental health support for all child actors as they transition into young adulthood, noting that current health insurance models for performers rely strictly on erratic earnings.

Hayden Panettiere's death

Hayden Panettiere died on August 16, 2026, at age 36. She was found unresponsive in cardiac arrest at an apartment complex in Greenville, South Carolina. Local police and authorities stated there were no initial signs of foul play, and an investigation into the cause of death remains ongoing.

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The Greenville Police Department noted that the preliminary review did not find evidence of suspicious circumstances or foul play, while final autopsy and toxicology results are still pending. Dispatch audio and subsequent reports indicated responders treated the situation as a potential overdose, with Narcan reportedly administered at the scene before CPR was performed. Her on-and-off boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, and his brother were at the South Carolina residence when emergency services arrived.

Who is Melissa Glibert?

Melissa Gilbert rose to stardom as a child actress, achieving global fame at age nine when she was chosen out of 500 actors to star as Laura Ingalls Wilder on the hit NBC series Little House on the Prairie, running from 1974 to 1983.

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She has appeared in numerous television commercials and guest-starred in various shows during the late 1960s. Glibert has worked closely with co-star and director Michael Landon, who played her on-screen father. The actress has also been part of high-profile television films during the show's run, including The Miracle Worker (1979) and The Diary of Anne Frank (1980).