Hayden Panettiere
Hayden Leslie Panettiere (born August 21, 1989) is an American actress, singer, and Grammy Award nominee. Hayden plays the character Claire Bennet on the NBC television program Heroes. The advertising campaign and slogan for the program known as "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World" has helped make Panettiere famous.
Born and raised in Palisades, New York She has one younger brother, fellow actor Jansen Panettiere.
Panettiere attended South Orangetown Middle School in New York but following seventh grade, finished her high-school education via home schooling and has postponed higher education in favor of an acting career, although she has expressed an interest in "continuing to learn."
On October 31, 2007, Panettiere participated in the activity of Sea Shepherd to try to disrupt the annual dolphin hunt in Taiji, Wakayama, Japan. She was involved in a confrontation between Japanese fishermen and five other surfers from Australia and the United States (including former Home and Away star Isabel Lucas) of the group. The confrontation lasted more than ten minutes before the surfers were forced to return to the beach, after which they left the country. The fishermen consider the condemnation as an attack on their culture.
Panettiere told E! News that an arrest warrant has been issued in Japan for her interference in the dolphin hunt. In November 2007, she was awarded the "Compassion in Action Award" from the animal rights group PETA for her efforts to stop the dolphin hunt in Japan. She is also a vegetarian.
On January 28, 2008, Panettiere handed a letter of protest to the Norwegian ambassador in the United States arguing that Norway should stop its hunt for whales. She also delivered a letter to the Japanese ambassador calling for the end of Japan's hunting of whales.
In 2007, Panettiere became an official supporter of Ronald McDonald House Charities and is a member of their celebrity board, called the Friends of RMHC.
In May 2008, Panettiere was involved in an eBay auction to benefit SaveTheWhalesAgain.com. The auction included tickets to a fundraising dinner hosted at the Hollywood restaurant Beso, owned by Eva Longoria Parker, and a whale watching tour, with Panettiere, off the coast of Santa Barbara.
