Actress Michelle Trachtenberg Dead at 39

Actress Michelle Trachtenberg, who played Harriet the Spy in a breakout 1996 role, has died. She was 39. The New York Post reports via its sources that the death of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Dawn Summers) and Gossip Girl (Georgina Sparks) actress is not being investigated as suspicious, though no cause has yet been given. ABC7's sources say Trachtenberg was found dead in her New York City apartment by her mother on Wednesday morning. The sources add that Trachtenberg recently had a liver transplant and was potentially experiencing complications.

Trachtenberg was among the actresses who accused Buffy creator Joss Whedon of being abusive in 2021, writing at the time, "I am brave enough now as a 35 year old woman…. Because. This must. Be known. As a teenager. With his not appropriate behavior….very. Not. Appropriate. ... What he did was very bad. But we win. By surviving!" Whedon denied the allegations. (More obituary stories.)