The New Yorker grew up on screen, she appeared in her first TV commercials aged 3 and by 10 had appeared not only in a Nickelodeon TV series but starred in hit movie Harriet the Spy.
She mixed screen roles and education before landing the role of Dawn Summers, the younger sister of the title character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
More film and TV roles followed before Trachtenberg landed possibly her best-known role, of Georgina Sparks in hit show Gossip Girls — a role she reprised in 2021.
In the mid 2010s Trachtenberg mostly retreated from screen roles saying she planned to work on her own projects.
Trachtenberg was battling health issues and had a liver transplant in 2024.
She was found dead on February 25, aged 39: her death was attributed to complications from diabetes. — APL/agencies
