Gossip Girl star Michelle Trachtenberg’s sudden death at just 39 years old on Wednesday shocked casual fans of 2000s teen dramas.
But for eagle-eyed devotees of the once-rising child star, it was less of a surprise than a confirmation of their very worst fears.
For over a year, some of Trachtenberg’s 800,000 Instagram followers had been terrified over the state of her health.
Michelle Trachtenberg posted a selfie with Alexa PenaVega, known for the film franchise Spy Kids, back in January last year.
‘These kids… now adults getting our roots/hair done! Love this girl,’ Trachtenberg wrote. Though her supporters didn’t share her enthusiasm.
After sharing the selfie, comments started pouring in. One user asked, ‘Michelle u look sick. R u ok?’ Others also expressed concerns about her pale complexion and yellowish eyes.
Gossip Girl actress Michelle Trachtenberg’s unexpected passing at the young age of 39 has stunned fans of the teen dramas from the late 2000s. The image shows Trachtenberg in 2011.
For over a year, some of Michelle Trachtenberg’s 800,000 Instagram followers had been terrified over the state of her health. (Pictured: Michelle Trachtenberg in 2023).Â
Trachtenberg was immediately defensive about her appearance.
‘Explain to me how I look sick,’ she fired back. ‘Did you lose a calendar and not realize I’m not 14. I’m 38.’
A week after that first incident, Trachtenberg took to Instagram again to share another snap, her face half hidden by her dark hair. The caption read: ‘I have never had plastic surgery. I am happy and healthy. Check yourself haters.’
A day later she lashed out again, writing: ‘Fun fact. This is my face. Not malnutrition, no problems. Why do you have [to] hate? Get a calendar.’
Now, police sources have revealed that fears may have been justified, as Trachtenberg was reportedly sick at the time of her death.
Her body was reportedly found Wednesday morning by her mother in her parents’ Manhattan apartment in their 51-story luxury building overlooking Central Park.
The sultry black-haired beauty was ‘unconscious and unresponsive’ and in cardiac arrest by the time paramedics reached her, according to police. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
There are numerous reports that the actress had undergone a liver transplant in the months before her death and may have been suffering from complications from the procedure.
In a tribute, actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, who starred alongside Trachtenberg in the film Harriet the Spy, opaquely revealed to Us Weekly: ‘She struggled the last few years. I wish I could have helped.’
Trachtenberg’s passing is, indeed, a crushingly premature end to a 30-year-run in Hollywood marked by impressive heights – as well as seemingly embarrassing lows.
Aged just three, the Brooklyn-native began her acting career in a Wisk laundry detergent commercial. But she rocketed to international fame in 2000 in the blockbuster series Buffy The Vampire Slayer as Buffy’s younger sister Dawn Summers.
Shortly after that she began to be linked with a string of Tinseltown heartthrobs. Her first famous boyfriend was Canadian actor Shawn Ashmore.
They met at the height of her fame in 2004 when she was 19.
Trachtenberg and Ashmore seemed inseparable on the LA scene, but they abruptly split in 2006 and Trachtenberg quickly moved on with Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz.Â
Meanwhile, her career was picking up steam.
She took the role of teen villain Georgina Sparks, acting beside Blake Lively and Leighton Meester, in the critically acclaimed TV drama Gossip Girl, which spanned six seasons and 121 episodes.
Trachtenberg’s body was reportedly found Wednesday morning by her mother in her parents’ Manhattan apartment in their 51-story luxury building overlooking Central Park. (Pictured: Michelle Trachtenberg in 2000).
In a tribute, Rosie O’Donnell, who starred alongside Trachtenberg in the film Harriet the Spy, opaquely revealed to Us Weekly: ‘She struggled the last few years. I wish I could have helped.’ (Pictured:Â Michelle Trachtenberg and Rosie O’Donnell in Harriet The Spy in 1996).Â
Trachtenberg rocketed to international fame in 2000 in the blockbuster series Buffy The Vampire Slayer as Buffy’s younger sister Dawn Summers (pictured).Â
She took the role of teen villain Georgina Sparks, acting beside Blake Lively and Leighton Meester, in the critically acclaimed TV drama Gossip Girl (pictured), which spanned six seasons and 121 episodes.Â
Trachtenberg and Wentz briefly dated and split, before she was spotted with actor Jason Segel in early 2009. The couple were spotted out around Los Angeles and captured by the paparazzi enjoying a flirtatious dinner at the exclusive Chateau Marmont.
Any objective observer must have assumed that the sky was the limit for Trachtenberg, however, after the Gossip Girl series wrapped in December 2012, her career appeared to hit a slump from which she never truly recovered.
As co-stars, like Lively, Ed Westwick and Penn Badgley, moved on to bigger and better things, starring in blockbuster movies and becoming A-list Hollywood superstars, Trachtenberg’s credits were limited to occasional cameos on TV series, like the action-drama NCIS in 2013 and the supernatural-series Sleepy Hollow in 2015.
When those roles seemingly dried up, Trachtenberg started taking even more piece-meal parts, appearing as a guest judge on the teen cooking show, Chopped Junior, in 2016.
She was linked to other celebrity companions, from actor and singer Josh Groban to rapper Kid Cudi, before beginning a relationship in 2019 with her talent agent-turned-boyfriend Jay Cohen, 63.
During the 2020 presidential election, Trachtenberg even sparked fan hysteria with a fake engagement announcement, posting a selfie wearing a gargantuan diamond ring with the caption ‘I picked the right one.’
After her followers took the bait, Trachtenberg suggested, however confusingly, that it was all a just ploy.
‘Now that I have your attention,’ she wrote. ‘I know @joebiden @kamalaharris and I will be very happy together. #vote.’
And all the while Trachtenberg and Cohen’s relationship appeared to be growing, her professional horizons shrunk.
The sultry black-haired beauty was ‘unconscious and unresponsive’ and in cardiac arrest by the time paramedics reached her, according to police. She was pronounced dead at the scene. (Pictured: a graphic that Trachtenberg had posted on Instagram).Â
Police sources have revealed that fears for her health may have been justified, as Trachtenberg (pictured) was reportedly sick at the time of her death.
She was linked to other celebrity companions, from actor and singer Josh Groban to rapper Kid Cudi, before beginning a relationship in 2019 with her talent agent-turned-boyfriend Jay Cohen (pictured).
In 2021, she started hosting the crime series Meet, Marry, Murder investigating cases where husbands and wives have killed each other.
And that same year she made a startling claim – supporting allegations from Buffy co-star Charisma Carpenter that director Joss Whedon exhibited ‘hostile and toxic’ behavior on set.
Trachtenberg said that Whedon was ‘not appropriate’ and that there was a ‘rule’ in place on set prohibiting him from being alone with her. Whedon has denied the allegations.
In 2022, in what some saw as an attempt to re-start her sputtering star, Trachtenberg returned to her role as Georgina Sparks in two episodes of a Gossip Girl sequel. The reboot failed.
Throughout it all, Trachtenberg wore a brave face.
She was spotted hanging out with former co-star Leighton Meester in 2019, grinning together at a murder mystery party. And as recently as January 4, she posted picture of herself hanging with Friends actor David Schwimmer.
But despite the happy posts, there were certainly signs of struggle.
In March of last year, she shared a photo on Instagram of a plate with the message ‘in my f*** you era’ emblazoned on it.
Months later, she posted a disturbing photo of a cartoon mouse, covered in stitches and bruises with the caption, ‘never let anyone make you think you’re worthless’.
Regardless of her professional successes and her numerous accolades, including a Daytime Emmy Award nomination and three Young Artist Awards, it clearly wasn’t easy for Trachtenberg.
