by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent
We all know the rock world has its infamous 27 Club, with Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse, as the top dead A-list rock stars leading the curse list. But famous women seem to have their own less-noticed number hiding in plain sight: 36. Coincidentally, that’s just about the maximum cut-off age for lead female roles in Hollywood?
From silent scandal screen idol Mabel Normand in 1930 to Marilyn Monroe, Jessica Savitch and Princess Diana, each left us at 36 with a huge career and worldwide icon status still in the public eye. Now Hayden Panettiere, sadly, joins that strange chronology, dying just five days before her 37th birthday.
Coincidence or haunting roll call, here’s a look at the Top 5 at 36.
IS 36 THE 27 CLUB FOR FAMOUS WOMEN?
Marilyn Monroe. Princess Diana. And now Hayden Panettiere. It’s odd that this strangely specific age keeps appearing in the obituaries of famous women — 36.
Hayden Panettiere’s death, on Aug, 16, 2026, makes the coincidence especially eerie as just weeks earlier, “Party Rock Anthem” singer Lauren Bennett also died at 36. Panettiere, a famous child actor who grew into Heroes, Nashville and Scream fame, met her end not in LA or Hollywood, but in Greenville, South Carolina. Ongoing updates report that authorities claim “no indications of foul play” but heart attack or “cardiac arrest” and “overdose” as the apparent while cause of death – which is still under investigation – sounds like ‘foul’ play if life is a stage for this unfortunate player.
Rest in peace, Hayden Panettiere, may your bright light continue to shine with the company you keep on this storied list of stars. Let’s hope the curse stops here.
Visit her insta, where you can find these images courtesy of @haydenpanettiere for more photos.
Buy her book “This Is Me: a Reckoning” here.
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