Michelle Trachtenberg

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5 Mar 2024

Michelle Trachtenberg

Michelle Christine Trachtenberg was born on October 11, 1985, in New York City, New York. She began her acting career at a very young age, appearing in commercials, films, and television series as a child.
Her breakthrough role came with the Nickelodeon television series The Adventures of Pete & Pete (1994–1996), where she portrayed Nona Mecklenberg. She gained further recognition starring as the titular character in the Nickelodeon Movies comedy film Harriet the Spy (1996). Trachtenberg also had a role in the CBS sitcom Meego (1997) as Maggie, earning Young Artist Awards for both performances.

In the early 2000s, Trachtenberg found success with her role as Dawn Summers in the WB/UPN supernatural drama television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2000–2003). This role earned her another Young Artist Award and garnered three Saturn Award nominations. She also received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for her hosting role in the Discovery Kids series Truth or Scare (2001–2003).
During the mid-2000s, Trachtenberg appeared in various films, including EuroTrip (2004) and Ice Princess (2005), where she had starring roles. She also had supporting roles in films such as Mysterious Skin (2004) and Black Christmas (2006).

In the late 2000s and early 2010s, Trachtenberg gained further popularity with her recurring role as socialite Georgina Sparks in the CW teen drama television series Gossip Girl (2008–2012). She also starred in the NBC television series Mercy (2009–2010) as Chloe Payne.
In the 2010s, Trachtenberg continued her acting career with roles in several television films, including Killing Kennedy (2013) and Sister Cities (2015), as well as the science fiction film The Scribbler (2014). She also provided the lead voice of Judy in the Facebook Watch adult animated web series Human Kind Of (2018) and served as an executive producer for the teen drama web series Guidance (2015–2017) and the Tubi true crime television series Meet, Marry, Murder (2021).

Michelle Trachtenberg was born on October 11, 1985, in New York City, to Jewish immigrant parents from Russia and Germany. Her grandparents reside in Israel, and she is fluent in Russian.
Trachtenberg grew up in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, with her older sister, Irene. She attended junior high school at The Bay Academy for the Arts and Sciences before later moving to Sherman Oaks, California, where she attended Notre Dame High School.

Michelle Trachtenberg began her television career at the age of three, appearing in a commercial for Wisk detergent. This marked the start of over 100 more commercials in which she would feature. Her first credited television role was as Nona F. Mecklenberg on the Nickelodeon series The Adventures of Pete & Pete from 1994 to 1996. During the same period, she portrayed Lily Montgomery on the soap opera All My Children.
Trachtenberg's film career commenced in 1996 with her starring role in Harriet the Spy, for which she had to leave The Adventures of Pete & Pete during its third season. She then appeared in the short-lived television series Meego, earning her a Young Artist Award. Returning to film in 1999, she appeared in Inspector Gadget and Can't Be Heaven. In the summer of 2000, she took on the role of Dawn Summers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a role she portrayed until the show concluded in 2003. Additionally, she hosted the Discovery Kids series Truth or Scare from 2001 to 2003.

After her roles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Truth or Scare, Michelle Trachtenberg appeared in the comedy film EuroTrip. She also had a recurring role in the HBO series Six Feet Under as Celeste, a spoiled pop star for whom Keith Charles served as a bodyguard. In March 2005, she starred in Walt Disney Pictures' comedy sports drama film Ice Princess as Casey Carlyle, a science whiz torn between a future in academia and her newfound dream of becoming a professional figure skater.
In 2004, Trachtenberg played Wendy in Gregg Araki's film adaptation of Scott Heim's novel, Mysterious Skin. Wendy is the best friend of Neil (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a teenage hustler in small-town Kansas. The film premiered at the 2004 Venice Film Festival.

In April 2006, Trachtenberg guest-starred in an episode of House titled "Safe". On the December 22, 2006, episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien, she revealed that House was her favorite show and that she was friends with one of the producers, which led to her guest-starring role.
In November 2006, Trachtenberg appeared in season six of the crime drama Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In the episode "Weeping Willow", she portrayed Willow, a kidnapped video blogger, likely inspired by the lonelygirl15 phenomenon. Trachtenberg also made appearances in music videos such as Fall Out Boy's "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" and Trapt's "Echo".
In 2006, Trachtenberg starred in Black Christmas, the remake of the 1974 slasher film of the same name. Additionally, in 2007, she was cast as the female lead in an ABC comedy pilot called The Hill, based on the newspaper of the same name in Washington, D.C.