'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' star dies at 39

NEW YORK

Michelle Trachtenberg, a former child star who appeared in the 1996 “Harriet the Spy” hit movie and went on to co-star in two buzzy millennial-era TV shows — “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Gossip Girl” — has died. She was 39.

Police responded to a 911 call shortly after 8 a.m. at a 51-story luxury apartment tower in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood where officers found Trachtenberg "unconscious and unresponsive,” according to an NYPD statement.

Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene. No foul play was suspected and the New York Medical Examiner is investigating the cause of death, police said.

Trachtenberg was 8 when she began playing Nona Mecklenberg on Nickelodeon’s “The Adventures of Pete & Pete” from 1994 to 1996 and then starred in the title role in the film adaptations of “Harriet the Spy” and “Inspector Gadget,” opposite Matthew Broderick.

In 2000 Trachtenberg joined the cast of “Buffy,” playing Dawn Summers, the younger sister of the title character played by Sarah Michelle Gellar between 2000 and 2003.

In 2001, she received a Daytime Emmy nomination for hosting Discovery’s “Truth or Scare.” Trachtenberg went on to recurring roles on “Six Feet Under,” “Weeds” and “Gossip Girl,” where she played the gang’s scheming nemesis, Georgina Sparks.

She was one of the original series' stars to return for a pair of guest appearances in the 2021 “Gossip Girl” revival.

As if to cement herself in millennial culture, Trachtenberg made a cameo in Fall Out Boy’s music video for the “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race” alongside Seth Green.

Hollywood took to social media to mourn one of their own, one who had made the transition from kid star to teen queen to adult actor. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” co-star David Boreanaz said on Instagram it was “so very sad.. horrible news.” Melissa Gilbert, who starred with Trachtenberg in the 1996 film “A Holiday for Love,” wrote on Instagram: “My heart aches for your family and all those who loved you so.”