Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Michelle Trachtenberg, 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and 'Harriet the Spy' Star, Dies at at 39
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 months ago on
February 26, 2025

Michelle Trachtenberg appears at The Art of Elysium's Ninth annual Heaven Gala in Culver City, Calif., on Jan. 9, 2016. (AP File)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

NEW YORK — Michelle Trachtenberg, a former child star who appeared in the 1996 “Harriet the Spy” hit movie and went on to co-star in two buzzy millennial-era TV shows — “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Gossip Girl” — has died. She was 39.

Police responded to a 911 call shortly after 8 a.m. at luxury residential tower in midtown where “officers observed a 39-year-old female unconscious and unresponsive,” according to an NYPD statement.

Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene. No foul play was suspected and the New York Medical Examiner is investigating the cause of death, police said.

Representatives for Trachtenberg did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Her death was first reported by the New York Post.

Trachtenberg Started as a Child Actress

Trachtenberg was 8 when she began played Nona Mecklenberg on Nickelodeon’s “The Adventures of Pete & Pete Nona” from 1994 to 1996 and then starred in the title role in the film adaptations of “Harriet the Spy” and “Inspector Gadget,” opposite Matthew Broderick.

“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.

In 2000 Trachtenberg joined the cast of “Buffy,” playing Dawn Summers, the younger sister of the title character played by Sarah Michelle Gellar between 2000 and 2003.

Trachtenberg thanked Gellar for speaking out against Joss Whedon in 2021, following abuse allegations made against the “Buffy” showrunner. “I am brave enough now as a 35-year-old woman to repost this,” she wrote on social media, and alluded to “his not appropriate behavior” she experienced as a teenage actor.

In 2001, she received a Daytime Emmy nomination for hosting Discovery’s “Truth or Scare.” Trachtenberg went on to recurring roles on “Six Feet Under,” “Weeds” and “Gossip Girl,” where she played the gang’s scheming nemesis, Georgina Sparks.

He other credits included “Ice Princess” in 2005 — playing a math prodigy and aspiring figure skater — and the 2004 teen sex comedy “EuroTrip.” For “Killing Kennedy,” the 2013 film in which she played the wife of Lee Harvey Oswald, around 80% of Trachtenberg’s dialogue was in Russian. She had learned the language from her mother growing up.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

High-Speed Rail CEO Won’t Commit to Size of Fresno Station. What’s in the Future for Rail?

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Crew Rescues Man Who Fell Into Ponding Basin Near Coalinga

DON'T MISS

Where Valley Lawmakers Stand on Punishing Seekers of Teens for Sex

DON'T MISS

Arias Criticizes Smittcamp Over Lack of Drug, Homeless Arrests

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Man Convicted of Child Molestation, Faces 16 Years in Prison

DON'T MISS

California Democrats Reject Push for Harsher Penalties for Soliciting Sex From Older Teens

DON'T MISS

Trump Turns to US Supreme Court in Bid to Strip Protected Status From Venezuelan Migrants

DON'T MISS

Fresno’s Audra McDonald Earns 11th Tony Nomination, Eyes Record Seventh Win for ‘Gypsy’

DON'T MISS

US Imposes Sanctions on Mexican Fuel Theft Network It Links to CJNG Cartel

DON'T MISS

Last Chevron-Chartered Vessel Starts to Return Oil Cargo in Venezuela, Data and Source Say

UP NEXT

Fresno County Crew Rescues Man Who Fell Into Ponding Basin Near Coalinga

UP NEXT

Where Valley Lawmakers Stand on Punishing Seekers of Teens for Sex

UP NEXT

Arias Criticizes Smittcamp Over Lack of Drug, Homeless Arrests

UP NEXT

Tulare County Man Convicted of Child Molestation, Faces 16 Years in Prison

UP NEXT

California Democrats Reject Push for Harsher Penalties for Soliciting Sex From Older Teens

UP NEXT

Trump Turns to US Supreme Court in Bid to Strip Protected Status From Venezuelan Migrants

UP NEXT

Fresno’s Audra McDonald Earns 11th Tony Nomination, Eyes Record Seventh Win for ‘Gypsy’

UP NEXT

US Imposes Sanctions on Mexican Fuel Theft Network It Links to CJNG Cartel

UP NEXT

Last Chevron-Chartered Vessel Starts to Return Oil Cargo in Venezuela, Data and Source Say

UP NEXT

At Least 9 Dead in Drone Strikes After US and Ukraine Sign Minerals Deal

Arias Criticizes Smittcamp Over Lack of Drug, Homeless Arrests

6 hours ago

Tulare County Man Convicted of Child Molestation, Faces 16 Years in Prison

8 hours ago

California Democrats Reject Push for Harsher Penalties for Soliciting Sex From Older Teens

8 hours ago

Trump Turns to US Supreme Court in Bid to Strip Protected Status From Venezuelan Migrants

8 hours ago

Fresno’s Audra McDonald Earns 11th Tony Nomination, Eyes Record Seventh Win for ‘Gypsy’

9 hours ago

US Imposes Sanctions on Mexican Fuel Theft Network It Links to CJNG Cartel

9 hours ago

Last Chevron-Chartered Vessel Starts to Return Oil Cargo in Venezuela, Data and Source Say

9 hours ago

At Least 9 Dead in Drone Strikes After US and Ukraine Sign Minerals Deal

9 hours ago

New CIA Videos Aim to Lure Chinese Officials

10 hours ago

Trump Taps Waltz for US Ambassador to the United Nations

10 hours ago

High-Speed Rail CEO Won’t Commit to Size of Fresno Station. What’s in the Future for Rail?

As part of the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s attempt to rein in a ballooning budget, its new CEO in a townhall last week walk...

5 hours ago

5 hours ago

High-Speed Rail CEO Won’t Commit to Size of Fresno Station. What’s in the Future for Rail?

A man was rescued early Thursday, May 1, 2025, after falling 60 feet into a ponding basin near Coalinga and was taken to a local hospital for evaluation. (CAL FIRE)
5 hours ago

Fresno County Crew Rescues Man Who Fell Into Ponding Basin Near Coalinga

5 hours ago

Where Valley Lawmakers Stand on Punishing Seekers of Teens for Sex

6 hours ago

Arias Criticizes Smittcamp Over Lack of Drug, Homeless Arrests

Justin Mills, 36, of Pixley, was convicted on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, of six felony counts of child molestation and faces up to 16 years in prison. (Tulare County DA)
8 hours ago

Tulare County Man Convicted of Child Molestation, Faces 16 Years in Prison

8 hours ago

California Democrats Reject Push for Harsher Penalties for Soliciting Sex From Older Teens

An aerial view shows Diover Millan of Venezuela, top left, and other detainees at the Bluebonnet Detention Facility, the facility where Venezuelans at the center of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling are held, in Anson, Texas, U.S., April 23, 2025. (REUTERS/Daniel Cole/File Photo)
8 hours ago

Trump Turns to US Supreme Court in Bid to Strip Protected Status From Venezuelan Migrants

Fresno’s Audra McDonald, already the most decorated performer in Tony history, is nominated for a record-breaking seventh award for her role in the “Gypsy” revival. (Shutterstock)
9 hours ago

Fresno’s Audra McDonald Earns 11th Tony Nomination, Eyes Record Seventh Win for ‘Gypsy’

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend