Disney Actor Jansen Panettiere, Brother Of Hayden Panettiere, Found Dead At 28

Jansen Panettiere, who acted in Disney Channel movies growing up alongside his sister Hayden Panettiere, was found dead in his New York City apartment over the weekend. He was 28.

The cause of death is unknown at this time but foul play is not suspected.

Born on September 25, 1994, in Palisades, New York, Jansen’s first screen performance was a background role in an episode of Even Stevens on Disney Channel. He went on to do voiceover performances in animated movies and TV shows including Blue’s Clues, Ice Age: The Meltdown and The X’s.

Jansen appeared alongside Hayden twice, in the 2004 Disney Channel original movie Tiger Cruise and the 2012 film The Forger. He also voiced the younger version of the zebra in Racing Stripes, which starred Hayden in the lead role. 

Jansen and Hayden apparently have continued to be close as their careers grew. As recently as January 24, he posted a black-and-white photo to Instagram of Hayden trying to cut his hair. “Not the first haircut she’s tried to give me,” he wrote. 

Jansen’s final screen performances were in 2019, in the film How High 2 and a season 9 episode of The Walking Dead. Since then he apparently got more interested in visual art; many of his most recent Instagram posts are pictures of his colorful art pieces, many of which include graffiti.