Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl actress Michelle Trachtenberg has died aged 39.
The former child star was found dead Wednesday in her New York apartment just after 8am local time by her mother, police sources told ABC News.
It was further reported the actress recently underwent a liver transplant and “may have been experiencing complications”.
She is believed to have died of natural causes and police are not treating her death as suspicious, sources added to the New York Post.
Trachtenberg was best-known for playing Dawn Summers in teen supernatural drama Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The character was the younger sister of titular character Buffy (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar) and she appeared in 66 episodes from 2000-2003.
She also had a recurring role as “The Witch of the Upper East Side'” Georgina Sparks in 28 episodes of teen soap Gossip Girl from 2008-2012.
In 2023, she reprised the role in two episodes of the second (and final) season of the Gossip Girl reboot.
Her Gossip Girl co-star Ed Westwick, who played Chuck Bass on the show, led tributes saying he was "sending prayers" in a post to his social media, featuring a picture of Trachtenberg in her role as Georgina Sparks.
Rosie O'Donnell, who worked with Michelle on 1996's Harriet The Spy, said in a statement, “I loved her very much. She struggled the last few years. I wish I could have helped.”
Kim Cattrall, who starred in Ice Princess alongside the young actress in 2005, shared a picture of the two together on set.
"Rest in peace sweet Michelle," Cattrall wrote on Instagram.
Melissa Gilbert of Little House On The Prairie fame shared: “Oh Michy…and we lived so close to one another…..my heart aches for your family and all those who loved you so… @michelletrachtenberg #ripsweetgirl.”
They worked together on the 1996 movie A Holiday For Love.
Trachtenberg booked her first TV gig aged three in a commercial for Wisk detergent.
Other credits include the Nickelodeon series The Adventures of Pete and Pete.
Last year, she hit out at "haters" who expressed concern over her health and appearance online.
It came after she shared a picture of herself ahead of getting her hair done at a salon.
One user commented: "Michelle [you] look sick. [Are you] ok?"
Trachtenberg replied: "Explain to me how I look sick. Did you lose a calendar and not realise I'm not 14? I'm 38. How sad for you to leave such a comment."
The next day, she shared another selfie, this time showing off her newly-dyed pink-tipped locks with the defiant caption: “I've received several comments recently about my appearance. I have never had plastic surgery. I am happy and healthy. Check yourself haters.”
The actress, who was born in Manhattan and grew up in Brooklyn, told the XOXO podcast with Jessica Szohr she knew a lot of people from the Upper East Side, in her 20s, who were "very similar to the Gossip Girl characters and involved in that world", adding "and some were actually more scandalous than the show portrayed".
