Michelle Trachtenberg, the actress best known for her roles in beloved ’90s and aughts projects like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gossip Girl, Ice Princ
Michelle Trachtenberg, the actress best known for her roles in beloved ’90s and aughts projects like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gossip Girl, Ice Princess, and Harriet the Spy, died Wednesday, a spokesperson for the NYPD confirms to Vanity Fair. She was 39.
The spokesperson tells VF that police responded to a 911 call at around 8 a.m. at One Columbus Place, a 51-story luxury apartment building on Central Park South. Upon arrival, authorities “observed a 39-year-old female unconscious and unresponsive. EMS responded to the location and pronounced the victim deceased. Criminality is not suspected. The Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death. The investigation remains ongoing.”
According to The New York Post’s sources, Trachtenberg recently underwent a liver transplant. Vanity Fair has reached out to a rep for Trachtenberg, as well as the NYPD, for comment.
Born in New York City on October 11, 1985, Trachtenberg got her start at age nine on the 1990s Nickelodeon series The Adventures of Pete & Pete, before securing the titular role in 1996’s Harriet the Spy alongside Rosie O’Donnell, and playing Dawn Summers, younger sister of Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Buffy on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Throughout the 2000s, Trachtenberg made a name for herself in adolescent-aimed films opposite bonafide movie stars. She worked opposite Matt Damon in 2004’s EuroTrip, Joan Cusack in 2005’s Ice Princess, and Zac Efron in 2009’s 17 Again. She earned a Teen Choice Award nomination for her performance as the maniacal villain Georgina Sparks on Gossip Girl, which ran for six seasons.
Trachtenberg’s final onscreen role was a reprisal of Georgina for two episodes of the short-lived Gossip Girl reboot on Max. In the final year of her life, Trachtenberg’s social media presence raised concerns among those concerned for her health after an apparent change in physical appearance. “I’ve received several comments recently about my appearance,” she wrote in an Instagram post in January 2024. “I have never had plastic surgery I am happy and healthy. Check yourself haters.”
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