Buffy The Vampire Slayer actress Michelle Trachtenberg dies aged 39
Trachtenberg joined the hit show in its fifth season as the younger sister of Buffy.
US actress Michelle Trachtenberg, known for her roles in Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl, has died aged 39.
The New York police department confirmed her death to the PA news agency in a statement on Wednesday.
The police said they responded to an emergency call at about 8am on Wednesday to One Columbus Place in New York and Trachtenberg was confirmed dead after emergency medical services arrived.
Her death is not being treated as suspicious and the police said the medical examiner will determine the cause of her death.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer actor David Boreanaz paid tribute to his co-star on his Instagram story and wrote “So very sad. Horrible news”, alongside a black and white picture of Trachtenberg.
The US actress joined the hit show in its fifth season as Dawn, the younger sister of Buffy, who was romantically linked to Angel, portrayed by Boreanaz.
Her Gossip Girl co-star Ed Westwick, who played Chuck Bass on the show, said he was “sending prayers” in a post to his social media, featuring a picture of Trachtenberg in her role as Georgina Sparks.
Trachtenberg played a young socialite of Manhattan’s Upper East Side who created havoc throughout the show, blackmailing Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively), among other schemes.
Born on October 11, 1985, in New York City, Trachtenberg began her acting career at the age of three, appearing in adverts before landing roles on TV.
In 1992 she secured a recurring role in children’s sitcom The Adventures Of Pete & Pete and in 1996 she starred in film Harriet The Spy as an 11-year-old given to spying on neighbours and classmates, and concocting outrageous lies to embellish the everyday details in her private journal.
She was also known for playing Penny in 1999 spy film Inspector Gadget and Jenny in 2004 movie EuroTrip.
In 2005 she starred opposite Sex And The City actress Kim Cattrall in Ice Princess and was also in 2009 teen comedy 17 Again alongside Zac Efron.
More recently Trachtenberg reprised her role in the second series of the Gossip Girl sequel.
The actress, who was born in Manhattan and grew up in Brooklyn, told the XOXO podcast with Jessica Szohr she knew a lot of people from the Upper East Side, in her 20s, who were “very similar to the Gossip Girl characters and involved in that world”, adding “and some were actually more scandalous than the show portrayed”.
