Hayden Panettiere

2007-06-28T01:50:00.000-07:00

Hayden Leslie Panettiere (born August 21, 1989) is an American actress, singer, and a Grammy-award nominee. Hayden began appearing in commercials at 11 months old, first appearing in an advertisement for Playskool Toy Train.She later landed a role as Sarah Roberts on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live and later as the child Lizzie Spaulding on the CBS soap opera Guiding Light when she was eight years old. Hayden Panettiere played the role until 2001. In Guiding Light, for Hayden's character Lizzie's battle with 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.She has appeared in over a dozen full-length feature films, as well as several made-for-TV movies. In addition, she had a leading role as the voice of Kairi in the highly successful Kingdom Hearts series of video games for the Playstation 2. She also had a starring role in FOX's Ally McBeal and a recurring guest role in Malcolm in the Middle. She guest starred in Law & Order: SVU. Panettiere currently stars as Claire Bennet in the NBC series Heroes as an invincible high school cheerleader. She will later appear in the drama film Fireflies in the Garden as a younger version of Emily Watson's character Jane Lawrence. Coincidentally, George Newbern, who played Sephiroth in Kingdom Hearts II alongside Panettiere, will also appear in the film. Neutrogena made her the cover girl for their new worldwide ad campaign; in this regard Panettiere followed in the footsteps of actresses Josie Bissett, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Mandy Moore, Kristin Kreuk, Mischa Barton, Gabrielle Union and Jennifer Freeman. She has auditioned for the role Jill Johnson in the movie When a Stranger Calls 2. Panettiere was nominated for a Grammy in 1999 for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for A Bug's Life Read-Along [2000].Hayden is currently working on her debut album, which was originally planned for release on May 8, 2007. The album, however has been pushed back and is now expected to be released in August 2007 from Hollywood Records. She was voted sixth on FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in 2007.Panettiere has become a regular on the science fiction convention circuit due to her role in Heroes. She has been invited to attend many popular conventions around the world in 2007, including New York Comic-Con and Fan Expo Canada.
Born in Palisades, New York, on August 21, 1989, Hayden Panettiere did not wait long to begin her career. When she was just 11 months old, her mother got her a part in a commercial for Playskool toys. By the time she was just over 4 -- and with almost 50 commercial appearances under her belt -- Hayden was chosen for a role on the soap opera One Life to Live, which she kept until 1997.

During that stint, Hayden became a more seasoned actress, with roles on Guiding Light, the miniseries A Will of Their Own, and the film The Object of My Affection. After lending her voice to the Disney animated films A Bug's Life and Dinosaur, Hayden won the role of a football coach's daughter in Disney's Remember the Titans, arguably her most eminent role to date.Though still very young, the mature actress adapted well to her already successful career. In 2001, she appeared in The Affair of the Necklace, starring Hilary Swank, and the comedy Joe Somebody, starring Tim Allen.Hayden went back to television for Ally McBeal in 2002 and the made-for-TV movie Tiger Cruise in 2004, but established herself as a film actress with roles in 2004's Raising Helen (starring Kate Hudson), The Dust Factory and 2005's Ice Princess. The future looks more than promising for this former child star, as she is listed as the main draw for the 2006 films All Fall Down and The Shanghai Kid.

COOL FACT'S:Hayden Panettiere was nominated for a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for Children after recording the read-along version of A Bug's Life.

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