Melissa Gilbert Calls for Child Actor Protections After Deaths of Hayden Panettiere, Michelle Trachtenberg, Daveigh Chase

Melissa Gilbert, best known for her role as Laura Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie, has called for better protection and support for child actors in the wake of the deaths of three former child stars: Hayden Panettiere, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Daveigh Chase. In an essay published Saturday via her Substack newsletter titled “Enough Is Enough,” Gilbert, 62, wrote that the entertainment industry “uses, abuses, exploits and then throws away its youngest,” and argued that the trend is getting worse.

Gilbert wrote that she did not know Panettiere personally and only worked briefly with Trachtenberg and Chase. Still, she said their deaths felt personal because she too grew up as a child performer. “We are all members of the same tribe; Female Former Child Performers, and when one of us dies, it runs through all of us like an electrical current,” she wrote. “When three of us die so close together, something is very, very wrong.”

She named other former child stars including Tatum O’Neal, Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning, Jodie Foster, Drew Barrymore, and her sister Sara Gilbert, saying they all share a strong connection.

The Deaths of Three Former Child Stars

Hayden Panettiere was found dead on August 16 at a Greenville, South Carolina, Airbnb where she was staying with her on-again, off-again boyfriend Brian Hickerson. She was 36. Michelle Trachtenberg died at age 39 in February 2025 from complications of diabetes mellitus, and Daveigh Chase died on June 16 at age 36 from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), though Page Six reported her age as 35 and cited the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s determination that AIDS was her primary cause of death.

Gilbert’s Critique of the Industry

Gilbert wrote that the invention of the mobile phone contributed to a lack of privacy for child actors, saying “the mobile phone with camera obliterated” safe zones where they could escape paparazzi. She also described what she called “Doctor Show Syndrome,” where young actors are expected to perform even when physically or emotionally unwell.

She recalled her own experiences: “I can’t tell you how many times I worked while horribly sick, injured or worse.” Her father died when she was 11, and she returned to work on Little House within months, with no condolences from adults on set. She later learned that the fear was she would become too upset to work. “Thank God my character cried in every single episode,” she wrote. “That, as twisted as it sounds, was my therapy. My release.”

Gilbert also recalled having an emergency appendectomy during a shoot and returning to work three days later, then becoming hospitalized with a severe fever on the verge of sepsis.

Anna Paquin’s Rare Comments

Anna Paquin, who won an Oscar at age 11 for The Piano, spoke out on Instagram Friday, six days after Panettiere’s death. She wrote: “It’s not a coincidence that so many former, specifically pre-sexualized female, child ‘stars’ have profoundly sad lives and untimely ends. We were not as protected by the ‘systems’ that look great on paper, as we are supposed to be.”

Paquin said she, Panettiere, Trachtenberg, and Chase belonged to a “strange, small club,” urging other former child stars to reach out to her. “You are worthy of support, no matter how our industry made us feel,” she wrote. “I believe you, and I will stand by your side.”

Alexa PenaVega also paid tribute on Instagram, writing: “Hayden, Michelle, Daveigh … my heart is heavy today. These aren’t just names from my childhood. They’re girls I grew up alongside, sharing a world that was exciting and also incredibly hard.”

Gilbert’s Husband’s Legal Troubles

Gilbert’s essay comes amid her husband Timothy Busfield’s legal case. Busfield, 69, was arrested in January on charges of criminal sexual contact of a minor and child, stemming from alleged incidents with two twin boy child stars dating back to 2022. He has denied the allegations, pleaded not guilty, and filed a motion to quash the grand jury indictment. Gilbert’s representative said she “stands with and supports her husband.” Gilbert has called Busfield “the last person in the world who would hurt a child” and said she is “100% confident” he will be exonerated. His trial is scheduled for May 2027.

Gilbert’s Call to Action

Gilbert argued that “no one cares enough to enact real change” and questioned: “Where is the collective outrage? Where are the regulations? Where is the protection of privacy?” She proposed that former child stars come together to lobby studio heads and establish free mental health support for child actors. She also highlighted Panettiere’s 11-year-old daughter Kaya, noting the girl will now grow up without her mother. “That’s the same age I was when my father died,” Gilbert wrote. “And now I am weeping as I type this and I just want to scream from the rooftops, ‘ENOUGH!’”