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Hayden Panettiere Biography

Hayden Panettiere plays Claire on NBC's hit drama, Heroes.

Courtesy of NBC

Birthdate: August 21, 1989
Birthplace: Palisades, New York

Young Life to Live

Hayden Panettiere was born in New York state and began appearing in commercials when she was just 11 months old. When she was four, Hayden snagged a role on One Life to Live before moving over to Guiding Light when she was eight years old. She has since appeared on Ally McBeal, Malcolm in the Middle, Punk'd, and Law & Order: SVU. She's also been in movies like Ice Princess and Bring it On: All or Nothing.

Save the Cheerleader, Save the World

Hayden hit it big when she nabbed the role of Claire Bennet in the hit series Heroes on NBC. Claire is a high school cheerleader with the ability to recover from injuries at a superhuman rate and even regenerate limbs. When she's not being superhuman, Hayden is also the fresh-faced cover girl for Neutrogena. Hayden will soon be seen in Fireflies in the Garden, due out later in 2008.

Dolphin Music

Hayden recorded several singles for Disney's Ice Princess and is now working on her debut album due out sometime in 2008. She has had songs featured in the DVD release of Cinderella III and the feature film Bridge to Terabithia. Recently, Hayden has become active as a supporter of animal rights. She particpated in a demonstration against the slaughter of dolphins in Japan, and had to flee the country or else she would have been arrested!