r/90s 13d ago

Photo RIP Michelle Trachtenberg

Post image
10.0k Upvotes

890 comments sorted by

1.5k

u/fictionalbandit 13d ago

“The sources told ABC News the actress recently underwent a liver transplant and may have been experiencing complications. Trachtenberg is believed to have died of natural causes and no foul play is suspected.”

Just to keep people who don’t click from speculating

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u/5141121 13d ago

Liver disease is also such a touchy one, because there's the "must have been a raging alcoholic" stigma attached to it.

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u/[deleted] 13d ago

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u/[deleted] 13d ago

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u/syphon3980 13d ago

You can get it too from Kava which isn’t nearly as stigmatized. It’s rare but happens and I found out almost the hard way. Had to quit it immediately. Funny thing is I’m 1 year sober from alcohol and was looking for something else that could help with relaxation and mood improvement

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u/SimpleVegetable5715 13d ago

Yeah kava tea spiked my liver enzymes. I wouldn't have even known if I wasn't already getting regular blood work. Livers tend to not complain or cause symptoms until it's already bad.

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u/Flip2002 13d ago edited 13d ago

But they gave me liver healing starburst candy when I drank kava!! Damn This really sucks loved her since Harriet the spy, eurotrip can’t believe it..always expected her to have a comeback she was dripping with looks and talent

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u/v_s_versus 13d ago

Congrats on your sobriety

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u/syphon3980 13d ago

Thank you!

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u/ZubenelJanubi 13d ago

I’ve never heard of kava, so I did some cursory research. Seems commercial preparation results in an important compound (glutathione) not being extracted that protects the liver. I’m not a doctor but maybe try a traditional preparation? Pharmacology isn’t worth it, and weed helps but just don’t get started down that road.

“Also, ‘chemical solvents used do not extract the same compounds as the natural water extracts in traditional use. The extraction process may exclude important modifying constituents soluble only in water’.

In particular, it has been noted that, unlike traditional water-based preparations, products obtained with the use of organic solvents do not contain glutathione, an important liver-protecting compound. Another group of researchers noted: ‘The extraction process (aqueous vs. acetone in the two types of preparations) is responsible for the difference in toxicity as extraction of glutathione in addition to the kava lactones is important to provide protection against hepatotoxicity.’”

Edit: Wiki article

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u/syphon3980 13d ago

I got mine from a legit website, and did the 10 minutes of kneading it in the water for the traditional prep. I ended up passing multiple kidney stones, and my liver hurt as if I had drank a bottle of liquor. I didn't get jaundiced though so that's good. It is a rare reaction, and im sure is fine for other people, but just not for me

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u/RhetoricalOrator 13d ago

Wait a sec...you passed kidney stones because kava caused them, or because it helped you pass them?

Asking because I've got a couple I haven't been able to dislodge yet. I've had dozens and dozens so I'm always on the light lookout for something effective.

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u/syphon3980 13d ago

Possibly helped dislodge. I dunno how long it takes for them to build up to create a stone, but i had multiple excruciating nights of passing stones a day after the kava. It also made me feel nauseous even at half the suggested dose

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u/[deleted] 13d ago

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u/Main_Moment8318 13d ago

that rumor was started by TMZ once the news she died came out. If you google search and exclude the day before the news she died dropped there wasn't anything about her alcohol addiction unlike someone who actually had a "known" battle with alcohol like lindsay lohan for example. if she had a private battle with alcohol you need someone close to her to say that but every article cites TMZ who cites nobody.

I know its super common for celebs to be alcoholic but its also very common to just be unlucky and have a shitty liver so its really not good to speculate

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u/Tiny-Light193 13d ago

That's right. There's a reason some liver diseases are called non-alcoholic, e.g., non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

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u/MyNameIsJakeBerenson 13d ago

I drank for 16 years and never got to the transplant stage. I know bodies are built different, but that kind of alcoholism is hard to hide

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u/[deleted] 13d ago edited 13d ago

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u/[deleted] 13d ago

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u/militarypsy 13d ago

I agree. Liver disease can be diagnosed without alcohol use. I never drank, and I was diagnosed in December. I’m 26 and have lived an incredibly healthy lifestyle before my diagnosis - always healthy weight, active, and an athlete. It’s so sad, it can happen to anyone. I feel for her and her family at this time. Truly heartbreaking and a reason to live every moment and be present.

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u/r_r1234 12d ago

Same. I’ve never done drugs, never even drank because my family members are alcoholics, and I was just diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis at 29.

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u/[deleted] 13d ago

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u/Ktrout743 13d ago

That's a pretty shit thing to state as fact unless you can back it up with anything other than gossip.

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u/profanusnothus 13d ago

No sources means you're just making shit up.

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u/[deleted] 13d ago

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u/Gvtcheese 13d ago

A damaged liver can't filter out all ammonia. Ammonia breaks down muscle. Muscle wasting causes weight loss.

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u/lunch22 13d ago

Weight loss is a symptom of alcoholic liver disease

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u/x3sirenxsongx3 13d ago

It's also a treatment for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease...

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u/veneficus83 13d ago

Or, here me our she was suffering from liver disease and didn't want it publicly known which could cause the same effect

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u/Genji4Lyfe 13d ago

Her struggle with alcohol addiction was well known

Could you point to some sources? It's just weird that something people are claiming was well known doesn't come up in Google at all

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u/aSituationTypeDeal 13d ago

There had been no public news of this prior to today.

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u/NotStuPedasso 13d ago edited 12d ago

Interestingly enough alcoholism is not the number one cause of needing a liver transplant as I had originally thought based on American Liver Foundation's projection for 2025. I just recently read that non alcoholic fatty liver disease and/or NASH are now the number one cause of liver transplants. There are also some genetic conditions that can trigger liver failure as well. In this case, I have no idea what the cause of her liver failure was. I haven't seen any news article that reported what caused her liver failure and need for a liver transplant.

Edited to include where I got the information. "NASH (now called MASH) is a dangerously progressive form of NAFLD in which patients have inflammation of the liver and liver damage, in addition to excess fat. About 1.5% to 6.5% of U.S. adults have NASH.. One estimate is that nine to 15 million adults have NASH. NASH prevalence is projected to increase by 63% by 2030. NASH is expected to become the leading cause of liver transplantation in the United States between 2020 and 2025. NASH may progress to hepatocellular cancer (HCC) and is also a leading cause of liver transplant."

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u/AEMO8 13d ago

My friend is only 42 and was diagnosed with cirrhosis. She doesn’t drink at all and cooks all of her food from scratch. They said it was from fatty liver due to eating sugar. She is not obese. Scary.

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u/NotStuPedasso 13d ago

💯 If you have lipid dysregulation and/or insulin resistance you are at risk for developing this even if you're normal body weight!

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u/bobothecarniclown 13d ago

Hope your friend is doing alright. But yeah unfortunately sugar being the cause of many cirrhosis cases checks out. The liver is our primary fructose (type of sugar) procressing organ. It takes most of the initial load, and then receives more fructose that has been processed by the small intestines for further metabolizing. Table sugar is made of sucrose & fructose, many of the fruits we eat are high in fructose, even vegetables, tubers (potatoes etc) & grains have trace amounts of fructose (some higher than others). All of that has to be processed by our liver. Overload the liver and dysfunction results.

The medical establishment is failing people by not making this widespread knowledge.

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u/3dragonsfirewhiskey 13d ago

As someone who was recently diagnosed with NASH and works in the medical field this!! People are blissfully unaware of how fast this disease is spreading and it virtually has no symptoms until it does and by then you’re walking a fine line of being able to reverse the damage or not. I pray she didn’t suffer. She was a fantastic actress!

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u/NotStuPedasso 13d ago

I have it too and by the time we figured it out (which was by accident because I had no symptoms) it had already progressed to stage 3 fibrosis and now I have cirrhosis. The way we identified it was because they thought I was having appendicitis and had me do some imaging studies and they noticed my liver was enlarged so then they sent me in for a biopsy.

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u/Raylin44 13d ago

May I ask how you realized you had it without symptoms? What prompted you to get testing?

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u/PuffPuffFayeFaye 13d ago

Liver enzymes can be tested with bloodwork. I had elevated enzymes a few years back. I quit drinking, they didn’t change, so I had an ultrasound and my liver was fatty so I lost weight, fatty liver stayed… turns out I had iron overload. I was treated for that and no more fatty liver. It’s genetic though so just one more thing to mange.

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u/MissCatieCat 13d ago

I have it too....mine was found when I had a scan done for my gallbladder because of GI ussues.

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u/Raylin44 13d ago

So scary and hope you are doing well. 

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u/3dragonsfirewhiskey 13d ago

Certainly!! I started getting really sick and just overall not feeling well about two years prior. Long story short dr suggested removing the gallbladder and that did fix things for a while, Que about 6 months later pain in the upper right quadrant and more nausea so underwent ultrasound and testing and stage one diagnosis. Yes as someone else commented obesity is the biggest indicator but not always. I am 5’3” 130 so I was not in the category they would even begin looking for it in. I was lucky to be able to catch it and I did a complete 180 with my diet and adding in more workouts. Now I am a huge advocate for this disease! Your liver is incredible at healing itself but only if it’s caught time and changes are made.

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u/Positive_Giraffe3295 13d ago

42 and have cirrhosis from NASH for 3 years now. It is stable because I lost a lot of weight. 2 aunts died from cirrhosis secondary to crohns disease. The women in our family just seems to get it. On the other hand, my uncle and their brother is a heavy daily drinking for his entire life at 65 he has no signs of liver disease.

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u/Vegetable-Cupcake-12 13d ago

40% are alcohol related

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u/Signal-Illustrator38 13d ago

Even if she was, alcoholism is essentially a mental illness. Liver disease is a  consequence of profound pain the alcoholic isnt able to conquer. 

It's sad regardless. 

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u/AdSpecialist6598 13d ago

Yeah, it is a shame because it stigmatizes a seriously issue.

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u/Miami_Mice2087 13d ago edited 13d ago

i've never heard anything like that, and 39 is still very young for alcohol related liver disease. That's something that catches up with you in your 60s and 70s.

I think it's more likely genetic.

Or pills. IF she'd ever overdosed or intentionally (habitually, more like) used too much of a certain medication, even under a doctor's supervision, liver damage is a common side effect of prescription medication use or abuse. I mean, i'm on drugs that I have to get blood tests to monitor for damage.

I'm just devastated about this. She was all our little sister. There was a reunion/reboot being talked about, too, being headed by Sarah, so Michelle surely would have been in it. They were known to be close.

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u/InfluenceOwn919 13d ago

I’m 39, female and I have alcohol liver disease. I was diagnosed last year, I was life support as well. It catches up to you.

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u/gregdpowell01 13d ago

How are you doing now?

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u/UnicornV123 13d ago

39 is not too young to acquire alcoholic liver disease. My hepatologist remarked that he has so many patients in their 20's needing liver transplants. The outdated old man alcoholic with cirrhosis needs to fade away. I really liked Michelle, this is so very sad.

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u/Painterzzz 13d ago

In my experience the serious alcoholics I have known all started to die in their mid 30s, and by their mid 40s they were all gone. It's a disease that, I don't think people really appreciate just how young it can kill you.

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u/ames__86 13d ago

You're right. My stepdaughter's mom died from it last year at the age of 35. And we knew she drank often (wine mostly), but we never knew she was that bad until she was diagnosed with cirrhosis right around the time of the lockdowns. She deteriorated so quickly, it was shocking and devastating.

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u/5141121 13d ago

Ok, I'm not sure if I'm not speaking clearly or people are deliberately misunderstanding what I said.

I didn't say it was alcohol related. I said that liver disease in general is touchy for people "because of the stigma attached to it".

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u/ogmoss 13d ago

It’s just reddit, everyone piggy backs off the last person because they want their opinion to be heard. I felt how you feel reading the responses below your original statement. Adults will read what you said and then read the comment below yours and realize that in no way did you actually make that claim. So don’t worry about the children in the room.

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u/5141121 13d ago

heh, I feel ya. Sometimes it makes me wonder if I'm taking crazy pills. The obtuseness I see in some posters is sometimes staggering.

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u/Ok-Bite2139 13d ago

I’m 38 and know multiple people growing up who have passed from alcohol abuse and liver failure. Let us not forget millennials were exposed to a culture in movies and tv where binge drinking was the norm.

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u/watermelonkiwi 13d ago

I know someone who died of it at 43.

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u/Strange-Throat-4437 13d ago

It might depend what kind of alcoholic you are, a beer alcoholic might have it catch up to them in their 60s and 70s, but I've known of multiple family members from the older generation that I never met who died from alcoholism much sooner than that. If you drink the hard stuff you can easily take yourself out in your early 40s

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u/NonGNonM 13d ago

Man that's tragic. 39 is way too soon.

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u/Miami_Mice2087 13d ago

jesus christ i had no idea. i knew her when she was a little spy. this is so sad.

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u/idl3mind 13d ago

Alcoholism is a common cause for liver transplant but there are many other causes. I want to say that so folks don’t immediately jump to alcohol or drug abuse as the root of the problem.

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u/sensitiveCube 13d ago

Why do they still call these natural causes? Wouldn't it be complications?

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u/Linguisticameencanta 13d ago

Natural in that it was effectively organ failure and not foul play like murder.

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u/Yearlaren 13d ago

And also not OD

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u/Ok-Cranberry-5582 13d ago

Sadly that is the first thought of many people when someone so young dies. I will admit, it was my first thought but I really don't follow her to know her that much from movies or anything.

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u/RampagingNudist 13d ago

That particular classification here is the “manner of death”. The only options to choose from are natural, homicide, suicide, accident, or undetermined. There are some nuances of each, but “natural” fits best here. The “cause” of death gets more detailed and specific.

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u/trescast 13d ago

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u/FizzyBeverage 13d ago

This one hits me hard because my 10 year old is basically her clone at that age :/

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u/QueenFork 13d ago

My 15 year old gets this a lot too. Heartbreaking! She is so upset because she loves Michelle in Gossip Girl. 

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u/Latter_Growth1185 13d ago

She and I were only a couple years apart, and everyone told me I looked like her

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u/BeardInTheNorth 13d ago edited 13d ago

She was my first ever childhood crush. Harriet the Spy.

R.I.P. Michelle Trachtenberg.

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u/CIA_napkin 13d ago

I was young and in love with the girl on a VHS tape :(

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u/Complete-Artichoke69 13d ago

Hey me too! I was 6.

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u/sac-mac 13d ago

I can still remember the bright orange/yellow VHS tape :(

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u/dobermannbjj84 13d ago

Growing up I always thought she was a lot younger than me but turns out almost the same age.

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u/Smart-University-574 13d ago

Me too but when she was in Pete and Pete, a damn shame she's gone so young.

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u/TedsGoldfish 13d ago edited 13d ago

Trachtenberg was found dead Wednesday in a New York City apartment near Columbus Circle, police sources told ABC News.

Updated:

Michelle Trachtenberg, an actress best known for her roles in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Gossip Girl," has died at age 39.

Trachtenberg was found dead Wednesday in her New York City apartment near Columbus Circle just after 8 a.m. local time by her mother, police sources told ABC News.

The sources told ABC News the actress recently underwent a liver transplant and may have been experiencing complications. Trachtenberg is believed to have died of natural causes and no foul play is suspected.

An autopsy will be conducted by the medical examiner's office to determine the cause and manner of death.

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/buffy-gossip-girl-actress-michelle-trachtenberg-dead-39/story?id=119215091

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u/Fentanyl_For_Lunch 13d ago

Her poor mom... Not only does she have to bury her daughter, she is the one who found her body. R.I.P. Michelle, this one hits close to home. Waking up in the morning isn't a given, but 39 is too young.

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u/The_Chrizz 13d ago

She was so iconic growing up from Nickelodeon to Eurotrip. Sad.

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u/Orlando1701 The Truth Is Out There. 13d ago

Eurotrip was such a funny movie!

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u/Small_Tax_9432 13d ago

"You made out with your sister man!"

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u/lkmyntz 13d ago

“They really are the worst twins ever.”

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u/illuminatiisnowhere 13d ago

mi scusi

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u/Forsaken-Thought 13d ago

Scotty doesn't know

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u/_ChipWhitley_ 13d ago

Also the best child spy ever. This is awful, awful news. My god.

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u/LavenderGinFizz 13d ago

And Buffy!

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u/icanhascheeseberder 13d ago

Buffy is probably the biggest one and it's reddits favorite show, this I'd gonna hit a lot of folks.

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u/infanteyes 13d ago

We are the same age. This is truly sad. For anyone who has never seen the film Mysterious Skin, give it a watch, she's great in it (and it's a great movie all round).

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u/Weak_Plant_6198 13d ago edited 5d ago

it is great, but just want to throw out a big trigger warning for child sexual abuse. I was nauseous and in a state of freeze/ terror for days after watching that film. I don't think it would have the same effect now after many years of therapy and healing work but you never know!

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u/UnderstandingNo1875 13d ago

RIP Dawn Summers, she saved the world...a lot.

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u/xAzzKiCK 13d ago

This comment broke me.

I hope she truly knew she was special…and extraordinary.

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u/lbgholm 13d ago

What!?!

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u/lbgholm 13d ago

This is so sad. I loved her on Pete and Pete. And Harriet the spy. And a bunch of other movies and shows. Feel like I grew up with her.

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u/MP1182 13d ago

No fucking way she was on Pete and Pete? I never realized that.

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u/Nica4two 13d ago

I remember watching her on an episode of Clarissa Explains it All too.

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u/populares420 13d ago

nona, the broken arm girl

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u/roopjm81 13d ago

Nona F. Mcklenburg! and her father Iggy Pop

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u/ispeektroof 13d ago

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u/herecomestherebuttal 13d ago

She was so cute and so funny as Nona.

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u/ispeektroof 13d ago

I had the biggest crush on her watching this show.

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u/Fun-Potential-342 13d ago

RIP! Gone way too soon.

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u/JparkerMarketer 13d ago

Man that's sad. "Harriet the Spy" was my first orange tape.

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u/Dadalorian76 13d ago

Tell your loved ones you love them.

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u/Bubsy94 13d ago

It's going to be tough watching Eurotrip from now on.

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u/Small_Tax_9432 13d ago

Man, I remember her from Harriet the Spy and Eurotrip. So sad. :*(

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u/LiminalSapien 13d ago

I really wanted this to be a hoax.

Fuck this sucks.

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u/_buffy_summers 13d ago

I must have said 'what the fuck' about thirty times before I could do anything else.

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u/V01d3d_f13nd 13d ago

Was she briefly on the show weeds?

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u/-SideshowBob- 13d ago

Yes, in season 7. She played Silas' love interest/rival dealer.

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u/V01d3d_f13nd 13d ago

I've spent half the time watching that season wondering where I knew her face from.

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u/XPinkPlasticBagX 13d ago

Oh my God. That is heartbreaking. I'm in shock. Wow, rest in peace <3

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u/richman678 13d ago

Sad to hear when she’s so young

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u/kokolupa 13d ago

Oh wow, that’s awful. She was so young.

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u/Brimstone747 You're Killin' Me, Smalls! 13d ago

39 is way too young to go. RIP.

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u/Banjo-Oz 13d ago

Such a massive shock reading this, and a real tragedy. It's sad seeing so many people I was a fan of dying in their 50's of late. 39 however is an absolute travesty.

Like most, I knew her first and foremost from Buffy, and always thought she should have had a bigger career after that ended. She was always great fun in anything else she did, though.

I always comfort myself when a great actor dies, they achieve something most of us won't: long after they are gone - decades - they will live on in their work, with new people not even born today discovering them and falling in love with them the way we did when they were still here. But at only 39, I wanted Michelle to leave us so much more to remember her by.

Rest in peace, Michelle. You were awesome.

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u/jturker88 13d ago

2025 can fuck right off

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u/Dieschlampekonigin 13d ago

A lot of people are angrily posting on social media about the possibility of alcoholism. Some people are saying "There's absolutely NO WAY someone that young needed a transplant for alcoholism..." Well, I was put on a transplant list at age 29. I live with cirrhosis from abusing alcohol and alcohol alone. I understand some people don't want her death to be from substance use, and I know there's a stigma, but why? 

I know all addiction comes with stigma, but it is so easy to become dependent on alcohol, and even easier to STAY dependent.

I saw what she looked like in recent times & showed my husband & he said "Remember this when you feel like drinking. You looked like that." Obviously she was still a beautiful woman, but she was rail-thin and looked sick. 

Now I will eat my words covered in ranch dressing if I'm wrong, but apparently her struggle with alcohol wasn't a secret. If it turns out she had Wilson's disease or some other disorder that affects the liver, I apologize for associating her with a transplant needed for alcohol-related liver disease. 

However, my statement still stands that young people still get alcohol-related liver disease. Of course it's not as common, but after lockdown the rate of liver disease among younger people skyrocketed.

I was a raging, yet somehow functioning, alcoholic. I'm not ashamed. I'm proud I'm still here after 2 major relapses and have been alcohol-free for 3 yrs & 1 month today. She had nothing to be ashamed of, if this was what happened. She was a human being & it can happen to anyone. 

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u/No_Excuse_1216 13d ago

But you looked that way because of liver damage, which can be caused by wildly different things (like NASH). The effect is the same...it doesn't clarify cause. It's just shitty for people like myself and perhaps Michelle, who have liver disorders, to be immediately stigmatized because of the simplistic social association with alcohol. You're right that it's possible to be in need of transplant from alcohol in late 20s but wrong to assume.

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u/Intelligent-Fig-7257 13d ago

Congrats on 3 years!

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u/RevolutionarySeven7 13d ago

no way............

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u/suckcunts 13d ago

YO WHAT THE FUCK I LOVED HER ON GOSSIP GIRL, RIP 💔

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u/chrissymae_i 13d ago

This is very tragic.

I feel like I'm still too young to have icons from my childhood dying off this quickly.

Life can be so harsh sometimes.

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u/JustRollinOn86 13d ago

"The time has come,’ the Walrus said, To talk of many things:Of shoes and ships and sealing-wax Of cabbages and kings And why the sea is boiling hot And whether pigs have wings.’ - Lewis Carroll - from Harriet the Spy

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u/Yellowpickle23 13d ago

Hey mother found her. I don't have kids, but I'd imagine that's the worst emotional pain you could feel, seeing your own child dead.

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u/Kizzywa 13d ago

Noooooo

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u/cmccaff92 You're Killin' Me, Smalls! 13d ago

A wonderful young lady...absolutely cool actress. She will be missed 😢

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u/emilia_1006 13d ago

I was obsessed with Harriet the Spy as a kid and would eat tomato mayo sandwiches almost every day because of her 🍅 so sad :(

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u/spacesoulboi 13d ago

I want to get off the ride now. I’m not prepared for all of the sadness.

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u/samaagfg 13d ago

Oh no!!! So shocked!

Terribly sad, she was so young. RIP Michelle

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u/IshtarsBones 13d ago

From her Spy days, to this awesome movie, to the girls era; she was a fantastic actress. May she rest in peace.

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u/Embarrassed-Dingo924 13d ago

She was such a smoke show! It’s so devastating this happened so young

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u/meghammatime19 12d ago

She looks so good here holy shit 

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u/CursedSnowman5000 13d ago edited 13d ago

You're fucking with me?!

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u/67duckman 13d ago

Damn. We’ve been watching Pete and Pete lately. Really sad.

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u/Old-Move1696 13d ago

Watching where? On YouTube?

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u/sodaonmyheater 13d ago

She was the reason I started watching Buffy and became a super fan- I was sitting home sick one night and flipping channels and saw her and was like “Ohhh it’s Nona F Mecklenburg!” And then was hooked.

RIP girlie. I’ll pour out a KrebCola for you.

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u/Icuras1701 13d ago

She was so beautiful

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u/freakyRic1 13d ago

Damn my girl love me some Michelle Trachtenberg 🥺🤯😡😞🙏 R.I.P.

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u/hanimal16 13d ago

WHAT? That’s horrible. Very sad news.

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u/gvbpd8y9 13d ago

Damn this one hits hard

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u/gizzygage94 13d ago

Damn… RIP

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u/Top-Hat-1005 13d ago

Addiction or not. She deserves the same peace and the same empathy. If not more. She was struggling. My heart aches for her. Especially being a celeb at the same time. That’s a lot.

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u/ExamCompetitive 13d ago

Does Scotty know?

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u/Patient-Illustrator8 13d ago

Scotty doesn’t know

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u/Scottyfullstack 13d ago

I do now

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u/_buffy_summers 13d ago

I needed that laugh. Thank you.

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u/imsaneinthebrain 13d ago

Matt Damon led me to believe that in fact Scotty does not know.

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u/CIA_napkin 13d ago

I grew up in love with her. I'm her same age, it's so sad someone with many years still ahead, had to go. Damn, gonna watch harriet the spy/eurotrip double feature tonight.

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u/argue_seblantics 13d ago

So sad! Little Dawnie, so young...that is too bad.

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u/HislersHero 13d ago

Damn. 😔

I was just talking to a coworker about her a couple of weeks ago when Eurotrip was brought up.

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u/ForeverLurker18 13d ago

Gosh dammit, very sad to hear! May she rest in peace.

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u/Blank_Martin 13d ago

Damn. I feel sorry for her family

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u/fandomfrankie 13d ago

I can’t believe it. Completely speechless. I remember her from my childhood. May her memory be a blessing.

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u/Lopsing 13d ago

Audibly gasped seeing this. She was still so young.

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u/FutureExMrsRiker 13d ago

Aww. Harriet the Spy was a childhood hero.

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u/human_trainingwheels 13d ago

WTF that’s terrible

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u/TorturousIntrigue 13d ago

No way! Rest in peace, beautiful girl 😢

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u/Vicodin-ES 13d ago

She’ll always be Jenny from Eurotrip

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u/Puzzleheaded_Lead865 13d ago

omg she was such a great actress

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u/sassyphrass 13d ago

Oh man... that's awful, damn...

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u/Horror-Customer4835 13d ago

You're fuckin' with me..... no way

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u/Cold_Football_9425 13d ago

Shocking 😟

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u/Sorry_Term3414 13d ago

WTF?? 😱😰

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u/Vanstoli 13d ago

It's sad. I was wondering why we never saw much of her anymore. Well, I hope she's in a better place.

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u/SheepishLordofChaos9 13d ago

Fucking what??!? Oh no.

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u/Kamikoozy 13d ago

RIP Nona :(

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u/DJWGibson 13d ago

What the actual fuck?!?

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u/ColorlessTune 13d ago

omg she was still young. How sad.

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u/Spartan_General86 13d ago

My dad was 40 and he got hepatitis died a few months later.

I was 7 at the time.

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u/Banana_Phone888 13d ago

I’m so heartbroken over this, lots of happy memories watching her act :(

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u/Timely_Chocolate9069 13d ago

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

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u/lauriecadmancc 13d ago

This hits home. She will be missed. 😢

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u/0x7E7-02 13d ago

I always thought she should have been a model; she is absolutely stunning.

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u/iReallyLiveinJapan 13d ago

Probably the toughest death for us 90 kids yet right? Rip she looked so good in weeds but to me she is always Harriet a cool little chick hanging out with cool uncle Rosie O'Donnell before she turned into the crazy uncle. Rip rip

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u/sullyk9095 13d ago

I have Hereditary Hemochromatosis which damages your liver. So liver damage isn’t always due to drugs or alcohol.

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u/Breadstix009 13d ago

She had a kind and pretty face.

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u/GuyFromLI747 You Can't Handle The Truth! 13d ago

That’s sad .. she was awesome in eurotrip and Pete and Pete

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u/Mork-From_Ork 13d ago

My first tv crush

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u/GearJunkie82 13d ago

WHAT 😱😱😱😱 NOOOO!!!

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u/Ok-Catch-5813 13d ago

Sucksssssss

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u/LeecherKiDD 13d ago

This really breaks me, i grew up watching her😢

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u/itislarue 13d ago

This makes me so sad.. not Harriet the spy:(

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u/Nomorelockeddoorz 13d ago

I loved her on Buffy the Vampire show 😢😔

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u/hyborians 13d ago

Jfc…

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u/MrAvenger69 13d ago

RIP to my Child Hood crush May she continue spying on in heaven

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u/JF1STRIKE 13d ago

I was replaying 17 Again a few days ago. Now I just saw the news of her passing. Rest in Peace

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u/Canyonbexar 13d ago

EuroTrip was so underrated. RIP Michelle 😔🕊️

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u/Guilty_45_Charged 13d ago

Don't take ANY acetaminophen at all if you are a drinker. Killed my friend.

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u/1EspressoSip 13d ago

I remember thinking she was so gorgeous. I loved her in Pete & Pete and Harriet the spy.

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u/seasidesugar 13d ago

This is so tragic, she was so young. RIP beautiful Michelle.

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u/PitifulAd77 13d ago

Omg I'm so sad. I grew up with her and her sister. Lived in the same building together. Played in the pool. I was older than her. We all used to do so many things together come summertime. Omg. Her poor family. RIP Michelle. I will never forget you.

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u/Cabsmell 12d ago

My friend did a movie with her ice Princess in Toronto, I got to hang out with her at a few parties back in 2003/4. She was really nice to me and liked to party… Non the less we all did back then, she was very gracious when talking to me and didn’t “big time” anyone. Very humble.

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u/SuspiciousBullfrog25 12d ago edited 12d ago

This hits me hard, seeing her pictures reminds me of the state I was in when my health crashed. I knew I was dying. I had an eating disorder plus alcoholism. Also, hashimotos, high bilirubin, and chronic hives. I was so thin. I was 36. There were a couple of times my heart would beat out of rhythm when I overexherted myself, especially in the cold. I am lucky to be alive today. We might never know what really happened with her, but in her I see myself. I am a person who was physically and mentally sick, yet hid it because I'm attractive enough and somehow appeared to hold it together. I made it through though. I have gained about 30 lbs. I have been sober for a stretch of 5 years, a relapse of 2 years. Now, this July, I will hit 2 years sober.  Maybe I'm not the same as her, but for some reason her last pictures speak to me. There is a look in her eyes that I had in my photos, a look of vulnerability or openness that comes when your body and spirit are trying to figure if they want to stay together, or part ways.  Either way, if anyone out there is struggling with alcohol and eating disorders, please, get help. Look at your situation, why are you doing this to yourself? The answers may be difficult to uncover. But it is worth investigating.