The young actress best known for her roles in Gossip Girl and Buffy the Vampire Slayer has passed away age 39.
Michelle Trachtenberg was found at a block of luxury apartments in Manhattan’s Central Park South zone, by her mother at about 8am on Wednesday, February 26. According to reports she had recently undergone a liver transplant.
Officials at the scene from the NYPD confirmed she was “unconscious and unresponsive” when found and later pronounced dead by EMS workers. Although the cause of death has not yet been released police are not treating the death as suspicious.
The actress who started her career as a child, played Buffy Summer’s younger sister Dawn Summers in the long running fantasy series Buffy the Vampire Slayer from 2000 to 2003. She was 14 years-old when she started the show and 17 when it ended, she played Buffy’s sister for 66 episodes.
She had a film and tv career that including a spot on Gossip Girl and playing the lead in the Disney movie Ice Princess.
She revealed she wasn’t happy working with Joss Whedon on Buffy
In 2021 a number of actresses from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series, came forward about the toxic work environment including Charisma Carpenter who played Crodelia Chase, Sarah Michelle Gellar also came forward to mention Joss Whedon by name as the negative Whedon allegations came to light and so did Michelle Trachtenberg saying on social media: “I am brave enough now as a 35 year old woman….To repost this…Because. This must. Be known. As a teenager. With his not appropriate behavior….very. Not. Appropriate.” She went on to say that there had been rules in place to make sure he was never left in a room alone with her again.
Her passing will leave fans of her work distraught and comes after discussions of a revival of the Buffy series
Unfortunately, the sad news comes just 20 days after Sarah Michelle Gellar said she had been in talks with Chloé Zhao about a Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival on social media.
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