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Michelle Trachtenberg - Biography |
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Trachtenberg was born in New York
City. Her father, Michael, is an AT&T field engineer, and her Russian-born
mother, Lana, is a former actress turned puppeteer. Trachtenberg can speak
Russian fluently. She is of Jewish heritage and celebrates both Christmas
and Hanukkah; her grandparents live in Israel. Trachtenberg was raised,
along with older sister Irene, in Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn and attended
P.S. 254 Elementary School and Bay Academy Junior High School.
She made her first television appearance in 1988 in a commercial for Wisk
Detergent. She went on to feature in over 100 more commercials. 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. It was on All My Children that
Trachtenberg first worked with future Buffy the Vampire Slayer co-star
Sarah Michelle Gellar.
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. After Buffy, she returned to film in EuroTrip, co-starring Scott
Mechlowicz 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 serves as a bodyguard.
In March 2005, she 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" and the Joaquin
Phoenix-directed video "Tired of Being Sorry" for Balthazar Getty's band
Ringside. She was recently cast as the female lead in an ABC comedy pilot
called The Hill, set in Washington, D.C.
Trachtenberg will provide 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. The movie is scheduled for release in 3rd quarter
2007.
Trachtenberg dated Canadian actor Shawn Ashmore from 2004 to December
2006. |
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Michelle Trachtenberg - Personal Quotes |
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"I love gardening. I think
it's very therapeutic when you're having a bad day."
[On being involved in a Buffy spin-off] "I didn't see myself
continuing as Dawn because I like to have diversity in my roles. A
lot of people are like: "Oh my God! Little Dawn grew up!" And as
much as I love you guys, suck it up."
[On why she chose not to continue her role as Dawn Summers] "I felt
like every year, my character got younger as I got older. The
scripts even had me speaking grammatically incorrectly. So I had to
do something else. Besides, the show is over. If you miss it, get
the DVDs."
[on the future of Buffy] "I'm sure that in some way, shape or form
"Buffy" will be continued or the story, through the fans, because we
do have such devoted fans and that's always been very sweet."
"One day I'd like to win an Oscar. But, I tell my mom if I ever get
to be rude and demanding to let me know and I'll stop it. I don't
want to be an actor like that."
"My confidence comes from me, Michelle, as a person. I don't
necessarily believe that I will act and be a lead forever, but I
want to continue to act for a long time. I love to do what I do."
"A fashion editor at Vogue, that would be awesome." (On her dream
job)
"Anything you throw at me, I'll try to tackle."
"I adore London and Paris, and I hope to live in London for a period
of time when I'm older."
"I love tennis. I tried gymnastics at one point, but my tush got a
whole lot of black and blue so that wasn't fun." |
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Michelle Trachtenberg - Filmography |
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The Hill (2007) (TV) ....
Maggie Rogers
The Possibility of Fireflies (2008) .... Gwen Roma
The Circuit (2008) (TV) .... Kylie Shines
Kids in America (2008) (post-production)
Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight (2007) (voice) .... Tika
"Robot Chicken" .... Amanda Bynes / ... (3 episodes, 2006-2007)
- Tapping a Hero (2007) TV Episode (voice) .... Woman/Wife
- Dragon Nuts (2006) TV Episode (voice) .... Lindsay Lohan
- Celebrity Rocket (2006) TV Episode (voice) .... Amanda Bynes
Black Christmas (2006) .... Melissa
... aka Black X-Mas (USA: promotional abbreviation)
... aka Noël noir (Canada: French title)
"Law & Order: Criminal Intent" .... Lisa Willow Tyler (1 episode,
2006)
... aka Law & Order: CI (USA: promotional abbreviation)
- Weeping Willow (2006) TV Episode .... Lisa Willow Tyler
Beautiful Ohio (2006) .... Sandra
"House M.D." .... Melinda Bardach (1 episode, 2006)
... aka House (USA: short title)
- Safe (2006) TV Episode .... Melinda Bardach
The Dive from Clausen's Pier (2005) (TV) .... Carrie Beal
Ice Princess (2005) .... Casey Carlyle
... aka Une princesse sur la glace (Canada: French title)
Mysterious Skin (2004) .... Wendy
"Six Feet Under" .... Celeste (4 episodes, 2004)
- Coming and Going (2004) TV Episode .... Celeste
- The Dare (2004) TV Episode .... Celeste
- Can I Come Up Now? (2004) TV Episode .... Celeste
- Parallel Play (2004) TV Episode .... Celeste
"Best Week Ever" (1 episode, 2004)
- Episode #1.15 (2004) TV Episode
EuroTrip (2004) .... Jenny
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" .... Dawn Summers (66 episodes,
2000-2003)
... aka BtVS (USA: promotional abbreviation)
... aka Buffy
... aka Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Series
- Chosen (2003) TV Episode .... Dawn Summers
- End of Days (2003) TV Episode .... Dawn Summers
- Touched (2003) TV Episode .... Dawn Summers
- Empty Places (2003) TV Episode .... Dawn Summers
- Dirty Girls (2003) TV Episode .... Dawn Summers
(61 more)
Can't Be Heaven (2000) .... Julie
A Father's Choice (2000) (TV) .... Kelly McClain
Inspector Gadget (1999) .... Penny
Richie Rich's Christmas Wish (1998) (V) .... Gloria
... aka Richie Rich: A Christmas Story
"Guys Like Us" .... Katie (1 episode, 1998)
- Maestro's First Crush (1998) TV Episode .... Katie
"Meego" .... Maggie Parker (1 episode, 1997)
- Halloween (1997) TV Episode .... Maggie Parker
Christmas in My Hometown (1996) (TV) .... Noelle Murphy
... aka A Holiday for Love (UK) (USA)
... aka Christmas in My Hometown (Canada: English title)
"Space Cases" .... Prankster #1 (1 episode, 1996)
- All You Can Eaty (1996) TV Episode .... Prankster #1
"Dave's World" .... Angela (1 episode, 1996)
- Solitaire (1996) TV Episode .... Angela
Harriet the Spy (1996) .... Harriet M. Welsch
"The Adventures of Pete & Pete" .... Nona Mecklenberg / ... (8
episodes, 1994-1996)
... aka Pete and Pete (USA: short title)
- Last Laugh (1995) TV Episode .... Nona Mecklenberg
- The Good, the Bad, and the Lucky (1995) TV Episode .... Nona F.
Mecklenberg
- Time Tunnel (1994) TV Episode .... Nona Mecklenberg
- Farewell, My Little Viking: Part 2 (1994) TV Episode .... Nona
Mecklenberg
- Grounded for Life (1994) TV Episode .... Nona Mecklenberg
(3 more)
Melissa (1995) (uncredited) .... Lena
... aka Secret Sins (USA: video title)
"All My Children" (1970) TV Series .... Lilly Benton Montgomery #1
(unknown episodes, 1993-1996)
... aka All My Children: The Summer of Seduction (USA: promotional
title)
"Clarissa Explains It All" .... Elsie Soaperstein (1 episode, 1993)
... aka Clarissa (USA: short title)
- Babysitting (1993) TV Episode .... Elsie Soaperstein
"Law & Order" .... Dinah Driscoll (1 episode, 1991)
... aka Law & Order Prime (USA: informal title)
- God Bless the Child (1991) TV Episode (uncredited) .... Dinah
Driscoll |
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Michelle Trachtenberg - Related Links |
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Wikipedia: Michelle Trachtenberg
YouTube: Michelle Trachtenberg
Michelle Trachtenberg at Babemania.com
Top Celebrities Sites:
The Celebrity
Cafe |
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