Michelle Trachtenberg shocked the world on Wednesday with her tragic death, at age 39, and many forget she got her start in show business as a baby in order to help her family pay the bills.
In 2015, the former child star posted a Polaroid of herself, at age three, on the set of her first commercial for Wisk laundry detergent, but ‘truth be told I was hired to be the baby of the biggest brand of diapers first when I was 16 months old.’
Little Michelle went on to star in 100 more commercials including one, at age six, in 1991 for Burger King toys where she affected a posh, upper-crust accent while seated at a long dining table.
In 1993, Trachtenberg portrayed Lily Montgomery on ABC soap opera All My Children where she got to co-star with Kelly Ripa.
Between 1994-1996, the Daytime Emmy Award nominee starred as Nona F. Mecklenberg in Nickelodeon sitcom The Adventures of Pete and Pete, which she called ‘way ahead of its time’ and noted: ‘I still have that compass necklace!’
Michelle got a major career boost when she made her big-screen debut in Bronwen Hughes’ 1996 coming-of-age comedy Harriet the Spy, which earned $26.6M at the box office.
Michelle Trachtenberg shocked the world on Wednesday with her tragic death, at age 39, and many forget she got her start in show business as a baby in order to help her family pay the bills
By this point, Trachtenberg was routinely bullied by her ‘cruel’ classmates, including one incident when she was ‘thrown down stairs and slammed into lockers head first.’
‘Back in my day, all the kids had to write a bulls*** Valentine’s Day card to everyone in the class. I never got one on purpose,’ the Brooklyn native lamented in 2020.
‘No one ever gave me one and they thought I didn’t need the attention. The kids and staff all laughed and thought everyone else should get one, being an actress since I was three, apparently I didn’t need one.
No one gave a thought I was helping my family pay bills. I was just the girl on the TV, it was just that their kid wasn’t on TV.’
Michelle then portrayed Penny Brown opposite Matthew Broderick in David Kellogg’s 1999 comedy Inspector Gadget, which amassed $134.4M at the global box office despite dismal reviews.
But Trachtenberg is best known for her work as Buffy’s (Sarah Michelle Gellar) younger sister Dawn Summers aka ‘The Key’ in 66 episodes of UPN teen supernatural drama Buffy the Vampire Slayer spanning 2000-2003.
The brunette beauty also had a recurring role as ‘The Witch of the Upper East Side’ Georgina Sparks in 28 episodes of The CW teen soap Gossip Girl spanning 2008-2012.
In 2023, Michelle reprised her role as the wedding-spoiling, manipulative socialite in two episodes of the second (and final) season of HBO Max’s Gossip Girl reboot.
Trachtenberg’s last major gig was executive producing and hosting the 13-episode true-crime docuseries Meet, Marry, Murder for Tubi TV in 2021 – but she also provided voiceover for Bill Guttentag’s 2024 mental health documentary Spyral.
In 2015, the former child star posted a Polaroid of herself, at age three, on the set of her first commercial for Wisk laundry detergent, but ‘truth be told I was hired to be the baby of the biggest brand of diapers first when I was 16 months old’
Little Michelle went on to star in 100 more commercials including one, at age six, in 1991 for Burger King toys where she affected a posh, upper-crust accent while seated at a long dining table
In 1993, Trachtenberg portrayed Lily Montgomery on ABC soap opera All My Children where she got to co-star with Kelly Ripa (R)
Between 1994-1996, the Daytime Emmy Award nominee starred as Nona F. Mecklenberg in Nickelodeon sitcom The Adventures of Pete and Pete, which she called ‘way ahead of its time’ and noted: ‘I still have that compass necklace!’
Michelle got a major career boost when she made her big-screen debut in Bronwen Hughes’ 1996 coming-of-age comedy Harriet the Spy, which earned $26.6M at the box office (pictured with co-star Rosie O’Donnell)
By this point, Trachtenberg was routinely bullied by her ‘cruel’ classmates, including one incident when she was ‘thrown down stairs and slammed into lockers head first’
The Brooklyn native lamented in 2020: ‘Back in my day, all the kids had to write a bulls*** Valentine’s Day card to everyone in the class. I never got one on purpose. No one ever gave me one and they thought I didn’t need the attention. The kids and staff all laughed and thought everyone else should get one, being an actress since I was three, apparently I didn’t need one’
Michelle then portrayed Penny Brown opposite Matthew Broderick (R) in David Kellogg’s 1999 comedy Inspector Gadget, which amassed $134.4M at the global box office despite dismal reviews
But Trachtenberg is best known for her work as Buffy’s (Sarah Michelle Gellar) younger sister Dawn Summers aka ‘The Key’ in 66 episodes of UPN teen supernatural drama Buffy the Vampire Slayer spanning 2000-2003
The brunette beauty also had a recurring role as ‘The Witch of the Upper East Side’ Georgina Sparks in 28 episodes of The CW teen soap Gossip Girl spanning 2008-2012
In 2023, Michelle reprised her role as the wedding-spoiling, manipulative socialite in two episodes of the second (and final) season of HBO Max’s Gossip Girl reboot
Trachtenberg’s last major gig was executive producing and hosting the 13-episode true-crime docuseries Meet, Marry, Murder for Tubi TV in 2021 – but she also provided voiceover for Bill Guttentag’s 2024 mental health documentary Spyral
In January 2024, Michelle spent an entire week shutting down ‘haters’ who expressed concern over her ‘thinning hair and yellow eyes’ after she took a selfie at Tracey Cunningham’s Mèche salon in Beverly Hills
‘Nobody is talking about plastic surgery. They are talking about your liver shutting down,’ Instagram user @efm850916 wrote at the time
Trachtenberg denied having any ‘malnutrition’ or ‘looking sick’ and insisted she was ‘happy and healthy’
On Wednesday, the New York Post reported that Michelle had ‘recently underwent a liver transplant’ before her mother Lana found her lifeless body inside her Midtown Manhattan apartment at 8am (pictured February 12)
In January 2024, Michelle spent an entire week shutting down ‘haters’ who expressed concern over her ‘thinning hair and yellow eyes’ after she took a selfie at Tracey Cunningham’s Mèche salon in Beverly Hills.
‘Nobody is talking about plastic surgery. They are talking about your liver shutting down,’ Instagram user @efm850916 wrote at the time.
Trachtenberg denied having any ‘malnutrition’ or ‘looking sick’ and insisted she was ‘happy and healthy.’
On Wednesday, the New York Post reported that Michelle had ‘recently underwent a liver transplant’ before her mother Lana found her lifeless body inside her Midtown Manhattan apartment at 8am.
