Topics: Michelle Trachtenberg, Entertainment
Rosie O'Donnell has claimed that Michelle Trachtenberg was battling drug and alcohol addiction in the years before her sudden death at 39 in February 2025.
The Buffy the Vampire Slayer star was found dead in her New York City apartment near Columbus Circle by her mother, according to police sources cited by ABC News at the time.
It was later reported that Trachtenberg had recently undergone a liver transplant following alcohol-related health issues and 'may have been experiencing complications', though her official cause of death was later confirmed by medical examiners to be complications from diabetes mellitus.
O'Donnell, 64, who starred alongside Trachtenberg in the 1996 comedy Harriet the Spy, described the actress's death as a 'tragedy' while speaking to Variety, and claimed Trachtenberg was in 'pretty bad shape' during their final conversations.
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"It was a tragedy," O'Donnell said. "She was a real genius child who was able to memorize anything, pick up her lines, you could improvise with her, and she was connected and right there.
"She was so close to her mother, Lana, and her sister, who's a ballerina."
O'Donnell alleged that Trachtenberg had 'got into drugs and alcohol' in the period before she lost touch with her, saying the pair had attempted to reconnect in the final years of the actress's life but that Trachtenberg would repeatedly fail to show up to planned meetings.
"We were supposed to see each other three or four times, and she just never showed up, sometimes at restaurants, other times at my house where we'd had someone prepare the whole meal," O'Donnell said.
"I would call her and go, 'Honey, are you heading over?' and she'd go, 'Was that today?' She was not in good shape."
O'Donnell said she had also spoken with Trachtenberg's mother to understand what was happening, adding that she never anticipated the outcome.
"I didn't think that she would die," O'Donnell said. "With most people suffering from addiction, their loved ones think that they'll survive it, but you can die from your addiction to drugs or alcohol, and it happens too often that it must be taken seriously."
New York City's Office of Chief Medical Examiner confirmed Trachtenberg's death was due to complications from diabetes mellitus, with her cause of death classified as 'natural.'
It was not immediately clear whether she had type 1 or type 2 diabetes, and her relatives had previously cited religious reasons for not wanting her full autopsy results released publicly.
Police told the Daily Mail they were called to a Manhattan apartment in Hell's Kitchen in February, where Trachtenberg was found 'unconscious and unresponsive'.
She was known for rarely speaking publicly about her health.
Trachtenberg began her career as a child performer and went on to become best known for her roles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where she played Dawn Summers opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar from 2000 to 2003, and Gossip Girl, where she played Georgina Sparks opposite Blake Lively from 2007 to 2012.
