Michelle Trachtenberg is being remembered fondly by fans of her films and TV shows after the sad news of her death at the age of 39. The former child star was found dead Wednesday in her New York flat having recently had a liver transplant and was said to be experiencing complications. However, her cause of death is not yet known.
Fellow actress Rosie O’Donnell has said the late star had been “struggling” before her death and called the news “heartbreaking”. Another to pay tribute was Blake Lively, with the actress writing on Instagram: “She laughed the fullest at someone’s joke, she faced authority head-on when she felt something was wrong, she cared deeply about her work, she was proud to be a part of this community and industry as painful as it could be sometimes, she was fiercely loyal to her friends and brave for those she loved, she was big and bold and distinctly herself.”.
Trachtenberg was best known for playing Dawn Summers in the teen supernatural drama Buffy the Vampire Slayer but starred in a wide variety of roles over three decades. Here are some of her best performances. Trachtenberg got her break in the Nickelodeon series, starring in 14 episodes as Nona.
Her status as a child star had led her fans to expect her to remain youthful, she lamented in posts last year. One instance came after she shared a picture of herself ahead of getting her hair done at a salon. One user commented: "Michelle [you] look sick. [Are you] ok?".
Trachtenberg replied: "Explain to me how I look sick. Did you lose a calendar and not realise I'm not 14? I'm 38. How sad for you to leave such a comment.". Trachtenberg was cast as a booksmart teen with developing social skills in Disney high school comedy Ice Princess when she starred alongside Kim Cattrall.
"Rest in peace sweet Michelle," Cattrall wrote on Instagram alongside a picture of the pair. The previous year, Trachtenberg played Jenny in gross-out comedy EuroTrip - a favourite of teens of the day which hasn’t perhaps aged the best. The unfortunate Jenny mistakenly makes out with her own brother in one scene before ultimately falling for Jacob Pitts’s Cooper.
Trachtenberg got an early outing in this romantic drama where she acted alongside Melissa Gilbert. Gilbert said online: “Oh Michy…and we lived so close to one another…..my heart aches for your family and all those who loved you so.”. In an early film outing, Trachtenberg played Harriet a young spy in, err, Harriet the Spy!.
Rosie O'Donnell, who also starred, said in a statement: “I loved her very much. She struggled the last few years. I wish I could have helped.”. Playing Maggie O'Donnell, Trachtenberg was cast as the daughter of a character played by another late actor Matthew Perry.
When Mike O’Donnell, her onscreen father - a man with no prospects, goes back in time as his 17-year-old self (played by Zac Efron), Maggie meets her younger dad without knowing. As Georgina Sparks, the ‘wicked witch of the Upper East Side’, Trachtenberg played a scheming recurring character in 28 episodes.
In 2023, she reprised the role in two episodes of the second (and final) season of the Gossip Girl reboot. Her co-star Ed Westwick, who played Chuck Bass on the show, led tributes saying he was "sending prayers" in a post to his social media. The classic teen fantasy drama saw Trachtenberg play a main role as Dawn Summers in the later series of the show.
