Michelle Trachtenberg, a former child star who appeared in the 1996 hit movie Harriet the Spy and later co-starred in two buzzy millennial-era TV shows — Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl — has died. She was 39.
Police responded to a 911 call shortly after 8 a.m. at a 51-story luxury apartment tower in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, where officers found Trachtenberg “unconscious and unresponsive,” according to an NYPD statement.
Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene. No foul play was suspected, and the New York Medical Examiner is investigating the cause of death, police said.
The report also revealed that Trachtenberg had recently undergone a liver transplant and may have faced complications. While her death is believed to be from natural causes, an autopsy has yet to be conducted.
“The family requests privacy for their loss,” Trachtenberg’s representative, Gary Mantoosh, said in a statement Wednesday.
Trachtenberg was eight when she began playing Nona Mecklenberg on Nickelodeon’s The Adventures of Pete & Pete from 1994 to 1996. She then starred in the title role in the film adaptations of Harriet the Spy and Inspector Gadget, opposite Matthew Broderick.
In 2000, Trachtenberg joined the cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, playing Dawn Summers, the younger sister of the title character, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, from 2000 to 2003.
In 2021, Trachtenberg thanked Gellar for speaking out against Joss Whedon following abuse allegations made against the Buffy showrunner. “I am brave enough now as a 35-year-old woman to repost this,” she wrote on social media, alluding to “his not appropriate behavior” that she experienced as a teenage actor.
In 2001, she received a Daytime Emmy nomination for hosting Discovery’s Truth or Scare. Trachtenberg went on to have recurring roles on Six Feet Under, Weeds, and Gossip Girl, where she played the gang’s scheming nemesis, Georgina Sparks.
For her fan-favorite role, she was nominated for a Teen Choice Award in 2012 for Best TV Villain. “It’s definitely a lot more fun than playing the good girl,” she told Seventeen in 2009. “I love the reaction you get. I never understood why some actors don’t want to play villains or evil characters.”
She was one of the original series’ stars to return for a pair of guest appearances in the 2021 Gossip Girl revival.
Blake Lively honored her Gossip Girl co-star on Instagram, writing: “The world lost a deeply sensitive and good person in Michelle. May her work and her huge heart be remembered by those who were lucky enough to experience her fire.”
A screengrab of Blake Lively’s Instagram Story
As if to cement her place in millennial pop culture, Trachtenberg made a cameo in Fall Out Boy’s music video for This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race alongside Seth Green.
Hollywood took to social media to mourn one of their own — an actor who successfully transitioned from child star to teen queen to adult performer. Buffy the Vampire Slayer co-star David Boreanaz wrote on Instagram: “So very sad… horrible news.” Melissa Gilbert, who starred with Trachtenberg in the 1996 film A Holiday for Love, posted: “My heart aches for your family and all those who loved you.”
A screengrab of David Boreanaz’s Instagram Story
Rosie O’Donnell, who starred alongside Trachtenberg in Harriet the Spy, called her death “heartbreaking.” “I loved her very much. She struggled the last few years. I wish I could have helped.” Glee star Chris Colfer remembered her as “the absolute sweetest and one of the most supportive people I knew.”
Trachtenberg’s later credits included Ice Princess (2005), in which she played a math prodigy and aspiring figure skater.
Born in New York City, Trachtenberg also appeared in the 2004 teen comedy EuroTrip. She co-starred with Zac Efron and Leslie Mann in 17 Again (2009) and played a murderous stalker and abductor in an episode of Criminal Minds.
In the 2013 film Killing Kennedy, she portrayed Marina Oswald, the wife of Lee Harvey Oswald. Around 80% of her dialogue was in Russian, a language she had learned from her mother growing up.
Her other credits included supporting roles in Mysterious Skin (2004) and Black Christmas (2006). She also starred in the NBC medical series Mercy (2009–2010) opposite Taylor Schilling. More recently, she hosted the true-crime docuseries Meet, Marry, Murder on Tubi.
Published – February 27, 2025 10:21 am IST
