Hayden Panettiere was just 4 years old when we first saw her on television. She grew up before our eyes: she was Lizzie in Guiding Light, ran the fields in Remember the Titans and skated in Ice Princess. On August 16, at 36 years old, her father confirmed that she had died. “She was an incredible light”, her family said. She had previously shared that she struggled for years with addiction and depression: “I was at the top of the world and I ruined it”, she confessed in 2022.
She is not the only tragic story of this generation. Michelle Trachtenberg, her co-star in Ice Princess and remembered for Harriet the Spy or Gossip Girl, died at 39 from complications related to diabetes. Lee Thompson Young, the charismatic star of The Famous Jett Jackson, took his own life at 29. Cameron Boyce, the beloved star of Descendants, passed away in his sleep at 20 due to an epileptic seizure.
Other unforgettable faces who defined the 2000s join this list. Singer and actor Aaron Carter died at 34 in a tragic accident in his bathtub after openly struggling with addiction and his mental health. Daveigh Chase, who played Samara in The Ring and voiced Lilo in Lilo & Stitch, died at 35 from health complications. Sawyer Sweeten, who played one of the twins in Everybody Loves Raymond, took his own life at 19. Anton Yelchin, whose childhood beginnings led to franchises such as Star Trek, tragically died at 27 in an accident involving his vehicle. Finally, Kevin Clark, remembered as drummer Freddy Jones in School of Rock, died at 32 after being struck by a vehicle while riding his bicycle.