Actress Michelle Trachtenberg, the “Gossip Girl” and “Harriet the Spy” star, was found dead in her Manhattan Apartment on Wednesday, February 26th, at the age of 39. “Unconscious and unresponsive” when the NYPD found her, paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.
Born in New York City, Trachtenberg was a former child actor who was seen in commercials as early as three years old and started acting when she was eight, making her first appearance as Nona Mecklenberg in The Adventures of Pete & Pete--Nickelodeon Coming-of-Age comedy from 1944 to 1996. Since her childhood, Michelle received praise from everyone who worked alongside her., “Michelle comes off as genuine because she really is a genuine kid. Everyone can identify with her” said president of Nickelodeon Movies Debby Beece in 1996. The turning point in her career came after she starred as the main character in the film adaptation of “Harriet the Spy” with Rosie O’Donnell, whom Trachtenberg quoted as her “biggest supporter” and was “extremely grateful for the experience. In 2000, Trachtenberg played the role of Buffy’s sister, Dawn Summers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer where she had remained close with Sarah Michelle Gellar, the show’s star. Trachtenberg’s next breakout was in 2005 Disney’s Ice Princess where she was casted as Casey Carylye, a academic oriented and physics whiz who sacrificed her promising future at Harvard to pursue her figure skating dream.AP news reviewed the movie as “a good, though feeble, heart and the best of intentions.” Leading up to her most well-known production, she became a fan favorite,playing Georgina Sparks on the “Gossip Girls” series, which aired six seasons. Her colleague on the show,Blake Lively, described her as “electricity when she entered a room because the vibration changed. Everything she did, she did 200%.” Her talented and empathic acting earned her a Daytime Emmy nomination for her role in Discovery’s Truth or Scare in 2001, and later nominated as TV villain for the Teen Choice Award in 2012 for fan favorite’s Gossip Girl. Her abrupt death was marked by her last TV role acting in 2021 Meet, Marry, Murder.
Despite her successful career and genuine personality, Trachtenberg’s life wasn’t without adversity. In 2021, at age 35, after years of silence, she finally found the courage to speak up against Duffy’s show creator Joss Wedone for his inappropriate behavior toward the showrunner.She thanked Gellar who spoke out against the abuse allegations.
Before Trachtenberg’s death, she had previously undergone a liver transplant and experienced complications which prompted fans to express concerns; however, Trachtenberg responded that she was “happy and healthy.” The cause of Trachtenberg’s death was unknown and there is no evidence of criminality, however, her family declined to do an autopsy which was honored by the Medical Examiner to mourn their losses. The death of Michelle Trachtenberg evoked the community’s reminiscences and love for the loss of a sensitive and genuine person.