Buffy and Gossip Girl star Michelle Trachtenberg dies at 39

Jewish actress Michelle Trachtenberg, a former child star known for her performances in the 1996 Harriet the Spy movie and later for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl, has died at the age of 39.

Born on 11 October 1985 in New York in a Russian-speaking household to Jewish immigrants Lana and Michael Trachtenberg, Michelle started her acting career with commercials from the age of three, earning her first credited role at the age of nine in the Nickelodeon series The Adventures of Pete & Pete.

Trachtenberg kickstarted her foray into film with her title role in Harriet the Spy at the age of 11, a performance for which she won a Young Artist Award in 1997.

“Michelle comes off as genuine because she really is a genuine kid. Everyone can identify with her,” said Debby Beece, president of Nickelodeon Movies in 1996.

The young actress went on to appear in a number of popular films and television series through the late 90s and early 2000s, including 1999’s Inspector Gadget opposite Matthew Broderick, Can’t Be Heaven with Ralph Macchio, and most notably Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 2000. Trachtenberg played Dawn Summers opposite fellow Jewish actress Sarah Michelle Gellar, winning her second Young Artist Award for the role in 2001.

Buffy was the first role that gave her international acclaim, and Trachtenberg told an interviewer in 2004: “You know, basically I’ve just been really honoured and flattered, and almost really shocked how our popularity has spread everywhere. My Grandparents live in Israel, and they are just being introduced to the world of Buffy, and when I went to visit them, my niece was like, “Oh my God, I loved that episode when you were, you know.” I was like, “How do you know?”

In 2004, Trachtenberg’s star continued to rise as she appeared in the raunchy teen comedy Euro Trip as well as the coming-of-age drama Mysterious Skin opposite Joseph Gordon Levitt, proving her versatility as a young actor. She then starred in Walt Disney’s 2005 film Ice Princess as the gifted student and figure skater Casey Carlyle before guest-starring in roles in House and Law & Order.

Rosie O'Donnell and Michelle Trachtenberg in 1996 film Harriet the Spy. (Photo: Paramount Pictures)[Missing Credit]

In 2008, she took on the now-beloved role of Georgina Sparks in the hit teen drama Gossip Girl, playing the protagonists’ devious nemesis in various episodes between seasons one and four. She reprised the role in 2022 for the HBO revival of the series.

Trachtenberg also co-starred with Zac Efron and Leslie Mann in 2009’s 17 Again and featured on the NBC medical series Mercy from 2009–2010 opposite Taylor Schilling. In 2021, she hosted the true-crime docuseries Meet, Marry, Murder on Tubi.

The actress led a private life but shared occasional references to her Jewish identity, posing several times about Hanukkah celebrations and selfies while wearing a Star of David necklace.

In a tribute shared on Instagram Wednesday, Trachtenberg’s Gossip Girl co-star Blake Lively celebrated the late actress for her “electric” energy: “Everything she did, she did 200 per cent. She laughed the fullest at someone’s joke, she faced authority head on when she felt something was wrong … she was fiercely loyal to her friends and brave for those she loved, she was big and bold and distinctly herself,” Lively wrote.

Michelle Trachtenberg in 2020. (Photo by Randy Shropshire/Getty Images for The Art of Elysium)Getty Images for The Art of Ely

Gossip Girl writer and producer Joshua Safran, who is also Jewish, wrote in a tribute to Trachtenberg on X: “It was an honour and joy to write for Michelle for so many years. Writers don't write specific characters on shows, even though many people believe they do....However: Georgina unlocked something in me in which writing her was the easiest thing I'd done. It was partially the character: devious, delicious, direct -- the most fun to write. But it was also Michelle. She had such a clear voice as an actor. You heard her as you typed.

“You knew she'd make each line rougher, more real, much funnier -- and that made the writing better. She was an inspiration and an icon. There's many reasons GG1 caught fire when we came back from the strike, but one of the biggest was the intro of her arc. The injection of *her.*

“Long live Georgina Sparks, and the brilliant woman who gave her the fire. You will be forever missed.”

Actor Rosie O’Donnell, who co-starred with Trachtenberg in Harriet the Spy, called her death “heartbreaking” and told People magazine: "I loved her very much. She struggled the last few years. I wish I could have helped.”

Trachtenberg’s family have not yet commented on her death, whose cause is still being investigated. The 39-year-old, who reportedly recently underwent a liver transplant was was discovered dead by her mother on Wednesday morning in her Manhattan apartment.