August 21
Hayden Panettiere' s Birthday
 

Hayden Panettiere (August 21, 1989), has worn many hats for someone her age. A girl dying of leukemia, a super-powered cheerleader, an animal-rights activist, a fresh-faced spokesperson, a Scream victim, a tiny ant princess, an Ice Princess, a Princess of Heart, and of course one of those innumerable Disney-bred actress/singer things. Pretty impressive for someone born after the Reagan Administration. Panettiere was born in the Palisades, and attended public school through eighth grade, subsequently studying at home as her acting career began to gain speed. She started “acting” at merely eleven months old, in an ad for Playskool. Some years later, Hayden originated a prominent role on one of the world’s longest-running media properties – she starred as Lizzie Spaulding on venerated soap opera Guiding Light. The role garnered her a Special Recognition Award from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society when her character battled leukemia. Panettiere worked steadily through the late nineties and early Aughts, starring in movies, television, and voice acting, but her big break came in early 2007, when NBC’s much-hyped superhero television series, Heroes, premiered. Panettiere starred as a high school cheerleader mysteriously imbued with regenerative healing powers, which she discovers through a series of home videos she makes in which she repeatedly attempts to harm herself. It is soon revealed that she is at the center of an apocalyptic prophecy in which the series’ other heroes are mandated to, “Save the cheerleader, save the world.” The series was a huge hit and went on for four seasons, gradually losing steam as each season essentially repeated the last. Fresh-faced Panettiere was the series’ big breakout star, and has since gone on to co-star in Scream 4 (2011)  and other films. She has also leveraged her fame as a platform for endorsing Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and for speaking out against the practice of dolphin hunting in Japan. However, we will always know Panettiere as the reluctant teenaged savior of the world, and in that regard we honor her today with the Greatest American Hero – the Hero Sandwich. A Hero Sandwich is a New York term for a submarine sandwich which Philadelphians call a hoagie and New Englanders often call a grinder. We suggest that while eating one that you watch I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009) in which she play the hottest girl in high school school who decides to date and thereby save the school nerd who declares his love for her during his graduation speech.

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New York Hero Sandwich

Instructions