Michelle Trachtenberg, known for her roles in Gossip Girl and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, has passed away at the age of 39.
According to reports, her mother found her at around 8 a.m. on Wednesday, February 26, in her Manhattan apartment.
Sources say the actress recently had a liver transplant, but the exact cause of her death has not been confirmed.
Born in New York on October 11, 1985, Trachtenberg started acting at a young age. She appeared in commercials as a toddler and got her first TV role on The Adventures of Pete & Pete in the mid-1990s. At just 10 years old, she starred in the 1996 film Harriet the Spy.
Her biggest breakthrough came when she joined Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Dawn Summers, Buffy’s younger sister, in the show’s fifth season. She stayed on the series until its finale in 2003.
She later gained more fame playing Georgina Sparks, a troublemaking socialite, on Gossip Girl from 2007 to 2012.
Trachtenberg also starred in several movies, including Eurotrip (2004), known for the song Scotty Doesn’t Know, and Ice Princess (2005).
