Actress Melissa Gilbert has issued an impassioned plea for increased protections for child actors in the wake of the recent deaths of Hayden Panettiere, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Daveigh Chase. Gilbert, a former child star herself, highlighted the tragic loss of these three women, all of whom found fame at a young age.

Panettiere died on Aug. 16 in Greenville, South Carolina, at the age of 36. Preliminary autopsy results indicated no signs of trauma, and the Drug Enforcement Administration is involved in the investigation. Trachtenberg died in February 2025 from complications of diabetes at 39, and Chase died in June from AIDS at 35, according to the Los Angeles Medical Examiner's office.

Gilbert, writing on Substack, expressed a personal connection to these actresses, stating, "It feels personal because I was them. As were Tatum, Kristy, Brooke, Patty, Anyssa, Dakota, Elle, Shirley, Britney, Jodie, Drew and my sister Sara, to name a few." She referred to them as members of the "Female Former Child Performers" tribe, noting that the death of one member sends a shockwave through the group.

"When three of us die so close together, something is very, very wrong," Gilbert wrote. While acknowledging that a "combination of many factors" could be responsible, including the impact of cell phones on mental health, she called for society to "lobby for and enact, real substantive change."

Gilbert also reflected on Panettiere's 11-year-old daughter, who will now grow up without her mother, drawing a parallel to her own experience when her father died at the same age.

"All I know is something has got to be done," Gilbert stated, adding, "I have this image in my mind of Hayden’s little girl who will now grow up without her Mama. She is eleven years old. That’s the same age I was when my father died."

Gilbert's plea comes as her husband, actor Timothy Busfield, faces trial on multiple counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor. Busfield, who is accused of abusing two boys on the set of the production "The Cleaning Lady," pleaded not guilty in February. The investigation into these allegations began in November 2024 after a doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital reported suspected child sexual abuse.