Michelle Trachtenberg's childhood All My Children connection

The movie world is mourning the death of actress Michelle Trachtenberg, who passed away at the age of 39 on February 26, 2025, but so is the soap world as the actress' big break came on All My Children in 1993.

Michelle Trachtenberg's long showbiz career

Trachtenberg was born on October 11, 1985, in Brooklyn, NY, and began acting at a young age in local theater productions. In 1993, she landed the role of Lily on All My Children as the autistic daughter of Laurel Bannon (Felicity LaFortune), who eventually married Jackson Montgomery (Walt Willey). Jackson adopted Lily as his own and raised her after Laurel died. The storyline was considered groundbreaking at the time as soaps had never featured an autistic character before.

While she was still appearing on All My Children, Trachtenberg also starred in the Nickelodeon series The Adventures of Pete and Pete. She left AMC behind in 1996 to star in the feature film Harriet the Spy as the titular character. After that, Trachtenberg's career took off.

She eventually reunited with former AMC co-star Sarah Michelle Gellar when they both starred on the primetime hit Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Gellar played AMC's original Kendall Hart from 1993 to 1995. Only five weeks ago, Trachtenberg shared a memory of her time working with Gellar on her Instagram account.

"Slay all day! Always loved this twinning photo of us!" Trachtenberg wrote next to a snap of the two actresses.

Trachtenberg spent the next few decades appearing on a variety of TV series, including Criminal Minds, Weeds, and NCIS Los Angeles. She also had a regular role on Gossip Girl and was seen on the revival series in 2023.

A tragic loss

According to CNN, New York City police received a 911 call on Wednesday morning after a woman was found unresponsive in her apartment. That woman was later identified as Trachtenberg, but the police said that there was no foul play suspected.

People reported that sources told them that Trachtenberg had recently undergone a liver transplant and her death could be related to complications from that procedure. However, Trachtenberg never publicly confirmed any health condition.

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“The family requests privacy for their loss. There are no further details at this time,” a representative for Trachtenberg said in a statement, per CNN.

Soap Central sends condolences to Trachtenberg's family and loved ones during this difficult time.

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