{"id":1030,"date":"2025-02-26T16:39:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T17:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/?p=1030"},"modified":"2025-02-26T18:39:51","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T18:39:51","slug":"buffy-the-vampire-slayer-and-gossip-girl-star-michelle-trachtenberg-dies-aged-39","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/26\/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-and-gossip-girl-star-michelle-trachtenberg-dies-aged-39\/","title":{"rendered":"Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl star Michelle Trachtenberg dies aged 39"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t\t\"Michelle\t<\/div>
Michelle Trachtenberg has died aged 39 (Picture: Gilbert Flores\/WWD via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gossip Girl<\/a> star Michelle Trachtenberg<\/strong> has died aged 39.<\/p>\n

She was found ‘unconscious and unresponsive’ by police, who said her death is not being investigated as suspicious.<\/p>\n

The actress was reportedly found by her mother around 8am local time on Wednesday in a luxury apartment complex on Central Park South in Manhattan, New York.<\/p>\n

Her cause of death has not been confirmed but an autopsy will be conducted by the medical examiner’s officer.<\/p>\n

It’s believed Trachtenberg, who recently underwent a liver transplant, died of natural causes and no foul play is suspected, according to ABC News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"WEST\t<\/div>
Trachtenberg was best known for her roles in Gossip Girl as Georgina Sparks and in Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Picture: Jemal Countess\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An NYPD spokesperson said in a statement to Metro<\/strong>: ‘On Wednesday, February 26, 2025, at approximately 0801 hours, police responded to a 911 call of an aided individual.<\/p>\n

‘Upon arrival, officers observed a 39-year-old female unconscious and unresponsive.<\/p>\n

‘EMS responded to the location and pronounced the victim deceased. <\/p>\n

‘Criminality is not suspected. The Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death. The investigation remains ongoing.’<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Michelle\t<\/div>
The actress’ death is not being treated as suspicious (Picture: Albert L. Ortega\/WireImage)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Trachtenberg began her acting career as a child, appearing in commercials from the age of three before her film debut in 1996, starring in Harriet the Spy.<\/p>\n

She went on to play Georgina Sparks<\/a> in Gossip Girl and Dawn Summers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a 2009 interview<\/a>, Trachtenberg spoke about her role as Georgina, saying: \u2018It’s kind of easy to be evil when you’re saying evil things.<\/p>\n

\u2018It’s definitely a lot more fun than playing the good girl. I love the reaction you get.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Actress\t<\/div>
Trachtenberg said her role as villain Georgina in Gossip Girl was her favourite (Picture: Neilson Barnard\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018I never understood why some actors don’t want to play villains or evil characters.\u2019<\/p>\n

She also called it her favourite role in an interview with Entertainment Tonight<\/a> in 2021, saying: \u2018Georgina is actually my favorite character that I’ve played because she’s such an evil b****. That was fun.\u2019<\/p>\n

Over her career spanning four decades, Trachtenberg held more than 60 credits including in 17 Again with Zac Efron and TV shows Weeds and Guidance.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Mandatory\t<\/div>
She starred alongside Sarah Michelle Gellar in Buffy The Vampire Slayer as Dawn Summers (Picture: 20thCentFox\/Everett\/REX\/Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of Trachtenberg\u2019s first TV roles came on Nickelodeon\u2019s The Adventures of Pete & Pete from 1991 to 1996, before her titular role in Harriet the Spy.<\/p>\n

She won a Young Artist Award for the role in 1997 and another the following year for her role as Maggie in TV series Meego.<\/p>\n

Trachtenberg went on to win and be nominated for several more awards, including in Inspector Gadget and a Choice TV villain nomination for Gossip Girl in 2012.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Editorial\t<\/div>
Her first film role came in Harriet the Spy in 1996 (Picture: Paramount\/Kobal\/Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She also appeared in Ice Princess and EuroTrip, and one of her most recent roles included voicing Judy Reilly in Human Kind Of.<\/p>\n

Trachtenberg had been posting on social media just a week ago, and on February 18 had shared a throwback picture of her wearing a green gown and sparkly earrings, writing: ‘I wanted to look like naughty #tinkerbell #throwback.’<\/p>\n

Days earlier, she shared another image, writing: ‘#sundayscaries ain’t got nothing on me!’<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"Mandatory\t<\/div>
The star’s cause of death has not been confirmed (Picture: Alex Berliner\/BEI\/REX\/Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last year, Trachtenberg said she was ‘happy and healthy’ after receiving comments about her appearance.<\/p>\n

Showing off her new pink hair, she said at the time: ‘I\u2019ve received several comments recently about my appearance.<\/p>\n

‘I have never had plastic surgery I am happy and healthy. Check yourself haters.’<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Michelle\t<\/div>
Trachtenberg hit back at haters with a defiant post last year (Picture: Michelle Trachtenberg\/Instagram)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fans have taken to her recent posts to share tributes to the star, with @samhoward0812 writing: ‘Not the news I wanted to hear. Rip Georgina.’<\/p>\n

‘She raised all of us who grew up in the 2000s may she rest in peace,’ @ohteen said.<\/p>\n

@zainlyfe added: ‘So sad to hear. I always hoped to see you in a Buffy reboot. Rest in peace.’<\/p>\n

Metro has approached Trachtenberg’s reps for comment.<\/em><\/p>\n

Got a story?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk<\/a> entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff<\/a> page – we\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michelle Trachtenberg has died aged 39 (Picture: Gilbert Flores\/WWD via Getty Images) Gossip Girl star Michelle Trachtenberg has died aged 39. She was found ‘unconscious and unresponsive’ by police, who<\/p>\n

Continue reading <\/use> <\/svg>Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl star Michelle Trachtenberg dies aged 39<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1030"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1041,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030\/revisions\/1041"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}