10 Roles to remember Michelle Trachtenberg by

American actress Michelle Trachtenberg recently passed away in her Manhattan apartment on February 26, 2025. The 39-year-old actress was found by her mother, who later called the emergency services. Although the cause of her death remains undetermined, it was reported that she had undergone a liver transplant a few months ago.

Trachtenberg has appeared on our screens since she was 3 years old. With Nickelodeon's The Adventures of Pete & Pete, she gained popularity. Since then, she has been a part of many popular movies and TV shows.

Here is a list of 10 memorable roles of Michelle Trachtenberg.

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10) The Adventures of Pete & Pete

The Nickelodeon show followed two brothers, both named Pete Wrigley, played by Michael Maronna and Danny Tamberrelli. The show revolves around the numerous adventures of Big and Little Pete Wrigley in the town of Wellsville.

Michelle Trachtenberg played the character of Noan F. Mecklenberg, and it was her first notable role on-screen.

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9) Meego

Meego was a sci-fi sitcom that aired on CBS in 1997. It follows the story of a 9000-year-old alien named Meego who is stuck on Earth after his spaceship crashes. Meego, played by Bronson Pinchot, befriends three siblings: Alex ( Jonathan Lipnicki), Trip ( Eric von Detten), and Maggie Parker ( Michelle Trachtenberg).

As Meego gets closer to the children, he decides to stay on Earth.

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8) Truth or Scare

Truth or Scare was a horror show that appeared on Discovery Kids. It was hosted by Michelle Trachtenberg, who in each episode narrated a story about a haunted location and popular legends from around the world.

Trachtenberg was nominated for a daytime Emmy award for hosting the horror show.

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7) Black Christmas

Directed by Glen Morgan, Black Christmas follows the story of a group of sorority girls who are murdered on Christmas by the recently escaped deranged killer, Billy Lenz ( Robert Mann), who used to live in the house 15 years before it was made into a sorority house.

He is later joined by his half sister/ daughter, Agnes Lenz, who helps them in murdering the people in the sorority house.

Michelle Trachtenberg plays the character of Mellisaa Kitt, one of the sorority girls who is killed by Agnes.

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6) Eurotrip

Directed by Jeff Schaffer, Eurotrip follows Scott Mechlowicz’s Scoot Thomas, who travels around Europe with his friends in search of his German penpal named Mieke.

Michelle Trachtenberg played the role of Jenny, Travis Wester’s Jamie’s twin sister. Trachtenberg’s character is a rebellious and tough teenager, in contrast to her twin brother Jamie, who happens to be a bookish person.

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5) 17 Again

Burr Steers’ film follows the story of Mike O’Donnell, played by Matthew Perry, who by some mysterious accident becomes his 17-year old self, played by Zac Efron. He then enrolls himself in his children’s school to get closer to his family, who were growing distant from him.

Michelle Trachtenberg plays Maggie O’Donnell, Mike’s teenage daughter, who starts to develop a crush on Mike, unaware of the fact that he is her father.

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4) Ice Princess

In the 2005 film Ice Princess, Michelle Tachtenberg plays the titular role of Casey Carlyle, a brilliant science student who rediscovers her love for figure skating.

Michelle’s Carlyle struggles to manage her studies to get into Harvard, figure skating, and her part-time job. Additionally, her mother, Joan Carlyle ( Joan Cusack), didn’t support her dream of becoming a figure skater. She later comes around, which makes Casey happy, and she gives her best at the sectionals, winning silver.

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3) Gossip Girl

Gossip Girl was a teen drama and followed a group of Upper East Side students of Manhattan whose private lives were periodically revealed by a mysterious blogger called the Gossip Girl.

Trachtenberg played Georgina Sparks, a recurring character who was friends with Serena once. Trachtenberg's Georgina was the manipulative person who always brought trouble to the lives of the Upper East Side students whenever she visited.

However, at the end of the series, her character changes for the better, and she also becomes friends with Blair, Serena, and the others.

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2) Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Sarah Michelle Gellar's Buffy the Vampire Slayer was one of the most popular supernatural dramas in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It followed Gellar's Buffy, who was a vampire slayer and fought evil and dark forces.

Trachtenberg was introduced as Dawn Summers, Buffy's younger sister, in Season 5. However, we later find out that Michelle's Dawn is not even a human being. She was a mysterious object called The Key that was sent to Gellar's Buffy to protect.

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1) Harriet The Spy

Directed by Bronwen Hughes, the 1996 coming-of-age film was Trachtenberg’s debut film. The film was based on Louis Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy book series. Michelle played Harriet, the 11-year-old girl who lives in New York and wants to become a writer

It was one of Trachtenberg’s major roles, for which she also earned the Young Artist Award.

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Also Read: 5 Michelle Trachtenberg shows you definitely shouldn't miss