Actress Michelle Trachtenberg, known for a wide range of TV and film roles including “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Gossip Girl,” has died at the age of 39, police sources told The Post.
Her death is not being investigated as suspicious, the sources said.
Trachtenberg had posted a series of troubling photos in recent months on Instagram, where the award-winning actress has 800,000 followers, in which she appeared gaunt and frail, prompting some fans to comment about her startling weight loss or ask if she was on drugs.
Last January, Trachtenberg responded to fan concerns saying she was “happy and healthy” and had never had plastic surgery.
Born in New York City on Oct. 11, 1985, Trachtenberg’s first credited role came at the age of nine on the classic 1990s Nickelodeon series “The Adventures of Pete and Pete,” on which she portrayed quirky gal-pal Nona F. Mecklenberg.
She went on to star in a variety of kid-oriented movies and shows, making her film debut in 1996’s “Harriet the Spy,” in which she played the title character.
As an adult, she pivoted to more mature acting fare, including a three-year stint playing Dawn Summers, the sister of “Buffy’s” eponymous vampire-slaying protagonist, as well as the manipulative, calculating antagonist Georgina Sparks on “Gossip Girl,” which ran for six seasons.
In 2021, Trachtenberg made bombshell allegations against “Buffy” creator and “Avengers” director Joss Whedon, then 55, claiming he was physically abusive during filming and that there was a “rule” in place prohibiting him from being alone in a room with her on set, she wrote in a cryptic Instagram post at the time.
Whedon later denied the allegations in an interview with New York Magazine.
On her birthday last Oct. 11, Trachtenberg posted a glamor shot on her Instagram with the caption “39 and I’m feeling fiiiiiine,” which garnered more than 32,000 likes.
