Michelle Christine Trachtenberg was a German-Russian-American actor born and raised in New York City, New York, United States to Michael Trachtenberg and Lana Trachtenberg. Michael is from Germany and Lana is from Russia.
BIOGRAPHY
Michelle has an older sister named Irene Trachtenberg. Both of their parents are Jewish.
Raised in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York City, Michelle attended The Bay Academy for the Arts and Sciences in Brooklyn and Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California, USA. Here are 13 more things about her:
- In 1988, she appeared in a commercial for Wisk detergent, which was her first television appearance.
- Her first TV role was Dinah Driscoll in “Law & Order” Season 2 episode 5 “God Bless the Child”, which aired on NBC on October 22, 1991.
- From 1993 to 1996, she played Lily Benton Montgomery in the ABC series “All My Children”.
- From 1994 to 1996, she played Nona F. Mecklebberg in the Nickelodeon series “The Adventures of Pete & Pete”.
- From 1998 to 1999, she was a panelist in the Nickelodeon game show “Figure It Out”.
- From 2000 to 2003, she played Dawn Summers in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, which aired on The WB and UPN.
- From 2001 to 2003, she hosted and narrated the Discovery Kids series “Truth or Scare”.
- She dated Shawn Ashmore from 2004 to 2006, Pete Wentz in 2006, Joshua Radin in 2008, Jason Segal in 2009, Josh Groban in 2010, Kid Cudi in 2014 and Jay Cohen from 2020 to 2025.
- From 2008 to 2012, she played Georgina Sparks in the The CW series “Gossip Girl”.
- From 2009 to 2010, she played Chloe Payne in the NBC series “Mercy”.
- In 2022, she reprised her role as Georgina Sparks in the second season pf the HBO revival of “Gossip Girl”.
- In 2024, she underwent a liver transplant.
- In 2025, she died of natural causes at age 39.
TIMELINE
In 1995, Michelle made her film debut as Lena in “Melissa”. She went on to star in the films “Harriet the Spy” in 1996, “Richie Rich’s Christmas Wish” in 1998, “Inspector Gadget” and “Can’t Be Heaven” in 1999, “EuroTrip” and “Mysterious Skin” in 2004, “Ice Princess” in 2005, “Beautiful Ohio” and “Black Christmas” in 2006, “Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight” in 2008, “Against the Current” and “17 Again” in 2009, “Cop Out” and “DC Showcase: Jonah Hex” in 2010, “Take Me Home Tonight” in 2011, “Sexy Evil Genius” in 2013, “The Scribbler” in 2014 and “Spyral” in 2024.
2023
- On November 2, 2023, she attended the 15 Years of Siriano Party at Nic’s On Beverly in Los Angeles, California.
2024
- On January 19, 2024, she took to Instagram to share a photo of herself with a caption, “Fun fact. This is my face. Not malnutrition no problems. Why do you have you hate? Get a calendar.”
2025
- On October 11, 2024, she turned 39.
- On February 26, 2025, her mother found her dead in her apartment in New York City.
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