Michelle Trachtenberg

Michelle Christine Trachtenberg (October 11, 1985 – February 26, 2025) was an American actress. After beginning her career in television commercials at age three, she made her television debut in her first credited role on the Nickelodeon series The Adventures of Pete & Pete (1994–1996) and her feature debut in the 1996 film Harriet the Spy. As a child actress, Trachtenberg starred in several Nickelodeon productions. In 1997, she won a Young Artist Award for her performance in CBS's sitcom Meego.

Michelle Trachtenberg
Trachtenberg in 2018
Born	(1985-10-11)October 11, 1985 New York City, U.S.
Died	February 26, 2025(2025-02-26) (aged 39) New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1988–2025

Trachtenberg found success on the supernatural drama series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2000–2003) as Dawn Summers, the younger sister of the show's title character, a role which won her another Young Artist Award and earned her three Saturn Award nominations. She was also nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for her role as the host of the Discovery Kids series Truth or Scare (2001–2003). In her late teens and early 20s, Trachtenberg rose to further prominence in the film EuroTrip (2004) and as Georgina Sparks on the CW series Gossip Girl (2008–2012). During the mid-2000s, she also had a starring role in the film Ice Princess (2005) and supporting roles in the films Mysterious Skin (2004) and Black Christmas (2006). She also starred on the NBC series Mercy (2009–2010).

In the 2010s, Trachtenberg starred in several television films, including Killing Kennedy (2013) and Sister Cities (2015), and in the science fiction film The Scribbler (2014). She provided the lead voice of Judy in Facebook Watch's adult animated web series Human Kind Of (2018) and executive produced the teen drama web series Guidance (2015–2017) and Tubi's true crime series Meet, Marry, Murder (2021). She died at age 39 from complications of diabetes.^[1]

Early life and education

Michelle Christine Trachtenberg was born on October 11, 1985, in New York City, to Lana, a bank manager, and Michael Trachtenberg, a fiber-optics manager.^[2] Her parents were Jewish immigrants; her father was from Germany and her mother was from Ukraine.^[3][4][5] Her mother helped her learn some Russian for a role in 2013.^[6] In an interview in November 2013, Trachtenberg said that her father had died recently.^[7] Her grandparents reside in Israel.^[8][9] She had an older sister named Irene.^[4]

Trachtenberg was raised in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, where she attended junior high school at The Bay Academy for the Arts and Sciences.^[10] Her family later moved to Los Angeles, where she attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks.^[4][2] She said in a later interview and on social media that she was bullied in school.^[11][12][13] She was a youth representative for the launch of an anti-drug campaign with President Bill Clinton.^[14]

Career

1988–2005: Career beginnings and Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Trachtenberg on the set of The Adventures of Pete & Pete in 1995

Trachtenberg made her first television appearance at age three in a commercial for Wisk detergent.^[15] She would eventually play featured roles in more than 100 commercials.^[15] She made her television debut in an episode of the crime drama Law & Order,^[16] before gaining recognition on the Nickelodeon series The Adventures of Pete & Pete as Nona F. Mecklenberg.^[17] During the same period, she played Lily Montgomery on the soap opera All My Children.^[18]

Trachtenberg's film career began in 1996 with the title role in Harriet the Spy, for which she had to leave The Adventures of Pete & Pete while its third season was running.^[19] She then starred in the short-lived television series Meego, which garnered her a Young Artist Award.^[20] She returned to film in 1999 for Inspector Gadget. She also starred in the film Can't Be Heaven. In 2000, she began playing Dawn Summers, the younger sister of the title character (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar) in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.^[21] She also hosted the Discovery Kids series Truth or Scare from 2001 to 2003, for which she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award.^[22][18]

Trachtenberg (right) with the cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 2003

In 2004, after Buffy and Truth or Scare, Trachtenberg appeared as Jenny in the teen comedy film EuroTrip.^[23] That same year, Trachtenberg played Wendy in Mysterious Skin, Gregg Araki's film adaptation of Scott Heim's novel. Wendy is the best friend of Neil (Joseph Gordon Levitt), a teenage hustler in small-town Kansas. The film debuted at the 2004 Venice Film Festival.^[24] She also had a recurring role in the HBO series Six Feet Under, as Celeste, a spoiled pop star.^[25]

In March 2005, Trachtenberg starred in Walt Disney Pictures' comedy sports drama film Ice Princess as Casey Carlyle, a science whiz, who is torn between a future in academia and her newfound dream of being a competitive figure skater.^[26]

2006–2010: Gossip Girl and other work

In April 2006, Trachtenberg guest-starred in the episode of House, "Safe". She revealed on the December 22, 2006, episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien that House was her favorite show, and that she was friends with one of the producers and had asked to be a guest star.^[27]

In November 2006, Trachtenberg guest starred in season six of the crime drama Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In the episode "Weeping Willow", she played the role of Willow, a kidnapped video blogger, likely based on lonelygirl15.^[28] Trachtenberg also appeared in the Fall Out Boy music video for "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race", the Joaquin Phoenix-directed music video for "Tired of Being Sorry" by Ringside, and the video for the Trapt song "Echo".

Trachtenberg in 2008

In 2006, Trachtenberg starred in Black Christmas, the remake of the 1974 slasher.^[29] In 2007, she was cast as the female lead in an ABC comedy pilot called The Hill, based on the newspaper of the same name in Washington, D.C.^[30]

Trachtenberg provided the voice of Tika Waylan for Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight, a direct-to-video animated film based on the novel of the same name.^[31] She appeared on The CW hit show Gossip Girl, as Georgina Sparks, who recently left rehab and brings back the dark past Serena van der Woodsen desperately wants to leave behind.^[32] She returned to the show for a multiple-episode story arc towards the end of season two.^[33] Trachtenberg appeared in the season three finale and in season four. She also appeared several times in season five, and in almost every episode of season six, the show's final season.^[34] In 2009, Trachtenberg was a cast member on the NBC drama series Mercy, which lasted one season.^[35] She then returned to film, starring in the 2009 teen fantasy comedy 17 Again and had a small role in the comedy Cop Out (2010).^[36]

2011–2024: Later work and final projects

On June 9, 2011, Trachtenberg guest starred on Love Bites, as Jodie, who, after being unceremoniously dumped, decides – with a vengeance – to accept her ex's offer to "be friends". She reprised the role on June 16, 2011, and in the series finale on July 21, 2011. In the same year, Trachtenberg was a guest star on Weeds during its seventh season,^[37] portraying Emma, a rival pot dealer who causes problems for Silas Botwin. In June 2012, Trachtenberg was cast in the film The Scribbler, produced by Gabriel Cowan.^[38]

In March 2011, she was the featured cover girl in Maxim.^[39] In the Criminal Minds episode "Zugzwang", Trachtenberg played Diane Turner, the criminal stalker of Spencer Reid's girlfriend, Maeve Donovan.^[40]

In late 2015, Trachtenberg starred in the online series Guidance as Anna, the high school guidance counselor.^[41] In 2016, she said she was a member of the Writers Guild of America and that she was working on several writing projects and continued to be inspired by her role in Harriet the Spy.^[42] According to filmmaker Casey Tebo, she had written a screenplay based on the book Toy Monster.^[43][44]

In 2022, Trachtenberg reprised her role as Georgina Sparks in the second season of the HBO revival of Gossip Girl.^[45] In 2023, she had a voice role in Apple TV+'s animated series adaptation of Harriet the Spy.^[46]

Trachtenberg had been set to make an appearance at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas on March 12, 2025.^[47]

Personal life and death

At the time of her death, she had been in a romantic relationship with her agent, Jay Cohen, for five years.^[48][49]

In early 2024, Trachtenberg addressed concerns on social media regarding her health after some people commented on her apparent weight loss and signs of jaundice. She reassured her followers that she was "happy and healthy".^[50] Trachtenberg underwent a liver transplant in 2024.^[51][52] Trachtenberg was found unresponsive by her mother in her Manhattan apartment on the morning of February 26, 2025, months after her liver transplant.^[53][54] Emergency medical services were called and pronounced her dead at the scene;^[50] she was 39 years old.^[55] Authorities stated that her death was not being treated as suspicious.^[56] A source told People that during the last year of her life, "She was really, really sick and open with those in her circle about how much she was struggling."^[1]

Trachtenberg's family, who are Orthodox Jews, objected to an autopsy for religious reasons. There was no suspicion of criminality so the medical examiner did not overrule this objection. New York's Office of Chief Medical Examiner ruled that both the cause and manner of death were undetermined.^[55] In April, the New York Chief Medical Examiner declared through toxicology reports that Trachtenberg had died from complications of diabetes,^[1] which is sometimes a side effect of organ transplantation.^[57]

Following her death, numerous celebrities expressed their condolences and paid tribute to Trachtenberg, including her Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl co-stars.^[58][59][60] Harriet the Spy co-star Rosie O'Donnell said, "I loved her very much. She struggled the last few years. I wish I could have helped."^[61]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1995	Melissa	Lena	Uncredited	[62]
1996	Harriet the Spy	Harriet M. Welsch
1998	Richie Rich's Christmas Wish	Gloria Glad	Direct-to-video	[63]
1999	Inspector Gadget	Penny Brown		[64]
	Can't Be Heaven	Julie		[5]
2004	EuroTrip	Jenny		[65]
	Mysterious Skin	Wendy Peterson		[66]
2005	Ice Princess	Casey Carlyle		[67]
2006	Beautiful Ohio	Sandra		[68]
	Black Christmas	Melissa Kitt		[29]
2008	Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight	Tika Waylan	Voice; direct-to-video	[31]
2009	Against the Current	Suzanne		[69]
	17 Again	Maggie O'Donnell		[70]
2010	Cop Out	Ava Monroe		[71]
	DC Showcase: Jonah Hex	Bar Girl	Voice; short film	[72]
2011	Take Me Home Tonight	Ashley		[73]
2013	Sexy Evil Genius	Miranda Prague	Direct-to-video	[74]
2014	The Scribbler	Alice / Veronica		[75]
2024	Spyral	Michelle Cody White	Voice; documentary	[76]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1991	Law & Order	Dinah Driscoll	Episode: "God Bless the Child"; uncredited	[67]
1993	Clarissa Explains It All	Elsie Soaperstein	Episode: "Babysitting"	[77]
1994	All My Children	Lily Benton Montgomery	3 episodes	[78]
1994–1996	The Adventures of Pete & Pete	Nona F. Mecklenberg	14 episodes; recurring role (seasons 2–3)	[79]
1996	Dave's World	Angela	Episode: "Solitaire"	[80]
	Space Cases	Prankster #1	Episode: "All You Can Eaty"	[81]
	A Holiday for Love	Noelle Murphy	Television film	[82]
1997	Meego	Maggie Parker	13 episodes; main role	[5]
1998	Blue's Clues	Herself	Episode: "Blue's Birthday"	[83]
	Reading Rainbow		Voice; narrator; episode: "Math Curse"	[83]
	Guys Like Us	Katie	Episode: "Maestro's First Crush"	[81]
1998–1999	Figure It Out	Herself	Panelist; 12 episodes	[84]
2000	A Father's Choice	Kelly McClain	Television film	[85]
2000–2003	Buffy the Vampire Slayer	Dawn Summers	66 episodes; main role (seasons 5–7)	[86]
2001–2003	Truth or Scare	Herself	Host and narrator; 20 episodes	[87]
2004	Six Feet Under	Celeste	4 episodes; guest role (season 4)	[88]
2005	The Dive from Clausen's Pier	Carrie Beal	Television film	[89]
2006	House	Melinda Bardach	Episode: "Safe"	[90]
2006–2018	Robot Chicken	Various characters	Voice; 6 episodes; guest role (seasons 2–3, 5 & 9)	[81]
2006	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Lisa Willow Tyler	Episode: "Weeping Willow"	[83]
2008–2012	Gossip Girl	Georgina Sparks	28 episodes; recurring role (seasons 1–6)	[83]
2008	The Circuit	Kylie Shines	Television film	[91]
2009–2010	Mercy	Chloe Payne	22 episodes; main role (season 1)	[81]
2009	The Super Hero Squad Show	Valkyrie	Voice; 2 episodes; guest role (season 1)	[92]
2011	Love Bites	Jodie	3 episodes; guest role (season 1)	[93]
	Weeds	Emma Karlin	5 episodes; guest role (season 7)	[81]
2013	Criminal Minds	Diane Turner	Episode: "Zugzwang"	[40]
	Killing Kennedy	Marina Oswald	Television film	[94]
	NCIS: Los Angeles	Lily Lockhart	Episode: "Merry Evasion"	[95]
2015	Sleepy Hollow	Abigail Adams	Episode: "Pittura Infamante"	[96]
	SuperMansion	Blood Moon	Voice; episode: "A Midsummer Night's Ream"	[97]
	The Christmas Gift	Megan	Television film	[81]
2016	Chopped Junior	Herself	Guest judge; 1 episode	[81]
	Sister Cities	Dallas Baxter	Television film	[98]
	Last Week Tonight with John Oliver	Herself	Guest; 1 episode	[99]
2022–2023	Gossip Girl	Georgina Sparks	2 episodes	[45]
2023	Harriet the Spy	Dr. Wagner	Voice; episode: "I Am the Onion"	[46]

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2015	Guidance	Anna	6 episodes	[100]
2018	Human Kind Of	Judy	Voice; 21 episodes	[101]
2021	Meet, Marry, Murder	Host	13 episodes	[102]

Music videos

Year	Title	Artist	Ref.
2004	"Echo"	Trapt	[103]
2005	"Tired of Being Sorry"	Ringside
2007	"This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race"	Fall Out Boy	[51]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
1997	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a Feature Film: Leading Young Actress	Harriet the Spy	Won	[104]
1998		Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series: Supporting Young Actress	Meego	Won	[20]
2000		Best Young Actress in a Comedy Film	Inspector Gadget	Nominated	[105]
		Best Performance in a Feature Film: Supporting Young Actress		Nominated
2001	Teen Choice Award	TV – Choice Sidekick	Buffy the Vampire Slayer	Nominated	[51]
	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a TV Drama Series: Supporting Young Actress		Won	[106]
	Saturn Award	Best Supporting Actress on Television		Nominated	[107]
2002	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series: Leading Young Actress	Truth or Scare	Nominated	[108]
		Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series: Guest Starring Young Actress	MADtv	Nominated
	Saturn Award	Best Supporting Television Actress	Buffy the Vampire Slayer	Nominated	[109]
2003				Nominated	[110]
2004	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series	Truth or Scare	Nominated	[111]
2007	Sarasota Film Festival	Breakthrough Performer	Beautiful Ohio	Won	[112]
2012	Teen Choice Award	Choice TV Villain	Gossip Girl	Nominated	[51]