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Michelle Trachtenberg
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| Michelle Trachtenberg | |
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 Michelle Trachtenberg in September 2007 |
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| Born | Michelle Christine Trachtenberg October 11, 1985 New York City, New York, U.S.A. |
| Years active | 1991 – present |
Michelle Christine Trachtenberg (born October 11, 1985) is an American television and film actress. She is perhaps best known for playing Dawn Summers in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer from seasons 5 through 7. She also played Georgina Sparks during the first season of Gossip Girl.
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Biography
Early life
Trachtenberg was born in New York City to a Jewish family,1 the younger of two daughters of Lana, a bank manager, and Michael Trachtenberg, a fiber-optics engineer.2 Her father is from Germany3 and her mother was born in Russia,4 and Trachtenberg can speak Russian fluently.4 Her family celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah;5 her grandparents live in Israel.6 Trachtenberg was raised, along with older sister Irene, in Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn and attended P.S. 99 Elementary School and The Bay Academy for the Arts And Sciences Junior High School.
Career
Trachtenberg made her first television appearance at the age of three, in a commercial for Wisk Detergent.7 She went on to feature in over 100 more commercials.7 She appeared in her first credited role as Nona F. Mecklenberg in The Adventures of Pete & Pete from 1994 until 1996. During the same period she played Lily Montgomery in All My Children,8 in which she first worked with future Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar.5
Trachtenberg's film career began in 1996 with the lead role in Harriet the Spy. She then returned to television for Meego, for which she won a Young Artist Award. She returned to film in 1999 for Inspector Gadget, as the gadget-master's niece, Penny. She also starred in the film Can't Be Heaven. In the summer of 2000, Trachtenberg took up the role of Dawn Summers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She remained in the role until the show ended in 2003. She also hosted Truth or Scare from 2001 to 2003. After Buffy and Truth or Scare, she returned to film in the comedy movie EuroTrip, co-starring Scott Mechlowicz, Jacob Pitts and Travis Wester and directed by Jeff Schaffer. 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, Trachtenberg played the title character in Walt Disney Pictures' family comedy–drama Ice Princess with Kim Cattrall. In this film, Trachtenberg plays a science whiz named Casey Carlyle who gives up her future academic life in order to chase her newfound dream of being a professional figure skater.
In November 2006, Trachtenberg guest-starred in the sixth season of the Emmy-nominated crime drama Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In the episode "Weeping Willow", she played the role of Willow, a kidnapped video blogger based on lonelygirl15. Trachtenberg also made a cameo in the Fall Out Boy music video for "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" (with Buffy the Vampire Slayer costar Seth Green), Joaquin Phoenix-directed video "Tired of Being Sorry" for Balthazar Getty's band Ringside, and Trapt's video "Echo". She was recently cast as the female lead in an ABC comedy pilot called The Hill, set in Washington, D.C.9 Trachtenberg provided the voice of Tika Waylan for Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight, a direct-to-video animated movie based on the novel of the same name.10
Trachtenberg appeared on the CW hit show Gossip Girl as Georgina Sparks, who recently left rehab and brings back the dark past Serena van der Woodsen desperately wants to leave behind.11 She will return to the show for a multi-episode story arc towards the end of the third season.12
She also guest-starred in the the episode of House, M.D., "Safe". She revealed on the December 22, 2006, episode of Late Night With Conan O'Brien that House is her favorite show, she is friends with one of the producers and she asked to be a guest star. Trachtenberg also said she has a crush on Hugh Laurie, and during the scene in the elevator in which House searches her genital area for a tick, Trachtenberg said she played a joke on Laurie by putting a note between her legs that read "I ♥ You".
She will appear in the 2009 movie 17 Again, alongside Zac Efron.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Melissa | Lena (uncredited) | |
| 1996 | Harriet the Spy | Harriet M. Welsch | |
| 1996 | Christmas in My Hometown (a.k.a. A Holiday for Love) | Noelle Murphy | |
| 1998 | Richie Rich's Christmas Wish | Gloria | |
| 1999 | Inspector Gadget | Penny | |
| 2000 | A Father's Choice | Kelly McClain | |
| Can't Be Heaven | Julie | ||
| 2004 | EuroTrip | Jenny | |
| Mysterious Skin | Wendy | ||
| 2005 | Ice Princess | Casey Carlyle | |
| The Dive from Clausen's Pier | Carrie Beal | ||
| 2006 | Beautiful Ohio | Sandra | |
| Black Christmas | Melissa | ||
| 2007 | The Hill | Maggie Rogers | |
| 2008 | Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight | Tika | voice-only |
| The Circuit | Kylie Shines | ||
| 2009 | 17 Again | Maggie O'Donnell | |
| Young Americans | Kitchelle Storms | ||
| Against the Current | Suzanne |
Television
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Law & Order | Dinah Driscoll (uncredited) | |
| 1993 | Clarissa Explains It All | Elsie Soaperstein | |
| 1993 - 1996 | All My Children | Lilly Benton Montgomery #1 | |
| 1994 - 1996 | The Adventures of Pete & Pete | Nona Mecklenberg | |
| 1996 | Dave's World | Angela | |
| Space Cases | Prankster #1 | ||
| 1997 | Meego | Maggie Parker | |
| 1998 | Guys Like Us | Katie | |
| 2000 - 2003 | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Dawn Summers | |
| 2001 - 2003 | Truth or Scare | Herself | |
| 2004 | Best Week Ever | ||
| Six Feet Under | Celeste (4 episodes) | ||
| 2006 | House M.D. | Melinda Bardach | |
| Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Lisa Willow Tyler | ||
| 2006 to 2007 | Robot Chicken | Dina Lohan/Woman/Wife/Cleaning Woman/Woman/Mugging Victim/Gummi-Bear | voice-only |
| 2008 | Gossip Girl | Georgina Sparks |
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Michelle Trachtenberg |
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Michelle Trachtenberg |
- ^ Chesterton, Lucy (2008-06-22). "SPOTLIGHT - Michelle Trachtenberg", Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved on 9 September 2008.
- ^ Michelle Trachtenberg Biography (1985-)
- ^ http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/2004/02/25/2004-02-25__buffy_s__sis_on_trach.html
- ^ a b Michael J. Lee (2005-05-24). "Michelle Trachtenberg: Interview". radiofree.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-23.
- ^ a b Kelly White (December 2000). "Under Michelle's spell". Girls' Life. Retrieved on 2007-11-23.
- ^ "Interview with James Marsters and Michelle Trachtenberg". contactmusic.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
- ^ a b Koltow, Barry (1996-07-11). "DEFINING WHERE `HARRIET' ENDS, MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG BEGINS", Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved on 9 March 2008.
- ^ "Find And Fight For Your Dream", CBS News (2005-03-18). Retrieved on 9 March 2008.
- ^ "Trachtenberg goes to Washington in ABC comedy". Reuters (2007-03-08). Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
- ^ Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Ausiello-Report/Gossip-Girl-Casts/800035799 Gossip Girl casts Buffy alumna Michelle Trachtenberg - Ausiello Report | TVGuide.com]
- ^ Michelle Trachtenberg to Return to Gossip Girl People.com, January 5, 2009
External links
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Trachtenberg, Michelle |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Actor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 11, 1985 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City, New York |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |