{"id":5112,"date":"2025-04-16T21:14:52","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T21:14:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/?p=5112"},"modified":"2025-04-17T18:26:41","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T18:26:41","slug":"gossip-girl-star-michelle-trachtenbergs-cause-of-death-at-age-39-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/16\/gossip-girl-star-michelle-trachtenbergs-cause-of-death-at-age-39-revealed\/","title":{"rendered":"Gossip Girl star Michelle Trachtenberg\u2019s cause of death at age 39 revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\"(FILES)\t<\/div>
Michelle Trachtenberg’s cause of death has been revealed following her death in February (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gossip Girl<\/a> and Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Michelle Trachtenberg<\/strong>‘s cause of death at age 39 has been revealed.<\/p>\n

At the end of February she was found \u2018unconscious and unresponsive\u2019<\/a> by police.<\/p>\n

The actress was reportedly found by her mother around 8am local time on February 26 in a luxury apartment complex on Central Park South in Manhattan, New York<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Following a review of laboratory test results, it was determined that the actress died due to complications from diabetes<\/a> mellitus, the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner told Deadline<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The coroner\u2019s office initially said her cause of death would remain undetermined because her family requested an autopsy not be performed because of religious reasons. <\/p>\n

The medical examiner\u2019s office would automatically do an autopsy if the cause of death was suspected to involve foul play, but there was no suspicion. <\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Mandatory\t<\/div>
The actress’s death was ruled as a result of complications from diabetes mellitus (Picture: Alex Berliner\/BEI\/REX\/Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, following the lab test results, the medical examiner\u2019s office was able to determine the cause of her death without an autopsy. They subsequently amended the official cause of death.<\/p>\n

It was believed at the time that Trachtenberg, who had recently undergone a liver transplant, died of natural causes, according to ABC News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

An NYPD spokesperson said in a statement to Metro<\/strong> at the time of the star’s death: \u2018On Wednesday, February 26, 2025, at approximately 0801 hours, police responded to a 911 call of an aided individual.<\/p>\n

\u2018Upon arrival, officers observed a 39-year-old female unconscious and unresponsive.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Editorial\t<\/div>
She began acting as a young child (Picture: 20th Century Fox Television\/Kobal\/Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018EMS responded to the location and pronounced the victim deceased.<\/p>\n

\u2018Criminality is not suspected. The Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death. The investigation remains ongoing.\u2019<\/p>\n

Her representative also confirmed to Metro<\/strong> in February: \u2018It is with great sadness to confirm that Michelle Trachtenberg has passed away.<\/p>\n

\u2018The family requests privacy for their loss. There are no further details at this time.\u2019<\/p>\n

Born on October 11, 1985, in New York City, Trachtenberg began her acting career as a child, appearing in commercials from the age of three. She memorably made her film debut in 1996, starring in Harriet the Spy.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Editorial\t<\/div>
Many fans remember Trachtenberg for her role in Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Picture: 20th Century Fox Television\/Kobal\/REX\/Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She went on to play Georgina Sparks<\/a> in Gossip Girl and Dawn Summers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer<\/a>, perhaps her two most widely known roles. <\/p>\n

Over her nearly 40-year career, Trachtenberg earned more than 60 credits, including in hit TV shows like Weeds and Guidance.<\/p>\n

She entered Buffy The Vampire Slayer in its fifth season as Dawn, the younger sister of Sarah Michelle Geller<\/a>\u2019s Buffy, and became a regular until the show came to an end in 2003.<\/p>\n

One of Trachtenberg\u2019s first TV roles came on Nickelodeon\u2019s The Adventures of Pete & Pete from 1991 to 1996, before her titular role in Harriet the Spy.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Mandatory\t<\/div>
The actress had recently had a liver transplant at the time of her death (Picture: Image Press Agency\/NurPhoto\/Shut)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She won a Young Artist Award for her role in Harriet the Spy in 1997 and another the following year for her role as Maggie in TV series Meego.<\/p>\n

Trachtenberg went on to win and be nominated for several more awards, including in 1999 spy film Inspector Gadget as Penny and a Choice TV villain nomination for Gossip Girl in 2012.<\/p>\n

Trachtenberg played a young socialite of Manhattan\u2019s Upper East Side in the hit show, blackmailing Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively). <\/p>\n

In a 2009 interview<\/a>, Trachtenberg spoke about her role as Georgina in Gossip Girl saying: \u2018It\u2019s kind of easy to be evil when you\u2019re saying evil things.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s definitely a lot more fun than playing the good girl. I love the reaction you get.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Editorial\t<\/div>
Fans and celebrities alike have been paying tribute to the late Gossip Girl star (Picture: CW Network\/Everett\/REX\/Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018I never understood why some actors don\u2019t want to play villains or evil characters.\u2019<\/p>\n

In 2004 she starred as Jenny in EuroTrip, and the following year appeared opposite Sex And The City actress Kim Cattrall<\/a> in Ice Princess.<\/p>\n

Trachtenberg also appeared in 2009 teen comedy 17 Again alongside Zac Efron<\/a>, and one of her most recent roles included voicing Judy Reilly in Human Kind Of.<\/p>\n

Her last major role was in 2021 as the host of a true-crime docuseries, Meet, Marry, Murder.<\/p>\n

This is a breaking news story, more to follow soon\u2026<\/em><\/strong> Check back shortly for further updates.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk<\/a> entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk<\/a>, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff<\/a> page \u2013 we\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For more stories like this, check our<\/strong> <\/strong><\/a>entertainment<\/a> page.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Follow Metro.co.uk Entertainment on Twitter <\/a>and Facebook <\/a>for the latest celeb and entertainment updates.<\/strong> You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here<\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michelle Trachtenberg’s cause of death has been revealed following her death in February (Picture: Getty Images) Gossip Girl and Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Michelle Trachtenberg‘s cause of death at age 39 has been revealed. At the end of February she was found \u2018unconscious and unresponsive\u2019 by police. The actress was reportedly found by her mother around 8am local time on February 26 in a luxury apartment complex on Central Park South in Manhattan, New York. Following a review of laboratory test results, … Continue reading “Gossip Girl star Michelle Trachtenberg\u2019s cause of death at age 39 revealed”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5112"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5112"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5118,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5112\/revisions\/5118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}