The cause and manner of Michelle Trachtenberg‘s death will remain undetermined, according to the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Trachtenberg’s famly requested that no autopsy be conducted, according to multiple media reports. The medical examiner’s office would automatically do an autopsy if foul play or criminality was suspected, but there is none, so the office did not overrule the family’s decision.
Police responded to a 911 call shortly after 8 a.m. Wednesday at a luxury residential tower in midtown Manhattan where Trachtenberg was found unresponsive. Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene. She was 39.
The former Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl star had recently undergone a liver transplant and may have suffered complications, police sources told ABC News.
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A spokesperson for the family issued a statement Wednesday confirming her death. “It is with great sadness to confirm that Michelle Trachtenberg has passed away. The family requests privacy for their loss. There are no further details at this time,” the statement read.
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Trachtenberg was a lifelong actor who made her television debut in commercials at age 3 before landing a recurring role as Lily Montgomery on the long-running soap opera All My Children. She gained further recognition while starring in Nickelodeon’s The Adventures of Pete & Pete and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for her role in Discovery children’s series Truth or Scare before landing her breakout feature lead as Harriet M. Welsch in the 1996 Paramount film Harriet the Spy, based on the classic children’s novel.
Trachtenberg joined Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the cult WB fantasy series’ fifth season in 2000 as Dawn Summers, the younger sister to Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Buffy. She went on to appear in the 2004 cult comedy EuroTrip and Disney sports drama Ice Princess. In 2008, she joined the cast of Gossip Girl as Georgina Sparks, the manipulative and unpredictable troublemaker who frequently threw the lives of the Upper East Side elite into chaos. Around that same time, she also starred opposite Zac Efron and Matthew Perry in Warner Bros’ comedy 17 Again.
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Her most recent television work included guest appearances on series such as House, Weeds, NCIS: Los Angeles, and Sleepy Hollow. She also lent her voice to animated projects, including Robot Chicken, most recently reprising in Max’s Gossip Girl sequel series in 2023.
Matt Grobar contributed to this report.