Michelle Trachtenberg credited her “protecting” mom for her staying away from medication and alcohol as a toddler star. In an interview with Advanced in 2010, Trachtenberg—who starred in films like Harriet the Spy and Ice Princess as a toddler—defined why she by no means experimented with medication or alcohol in contrast to different teen actors from her period.
“My mother was protecting, however she simply mentioned, ‘It’s your selection—you break your profession or don’t,’” Trachtenberg mentioned. “For those who understand how fortunate you might be to be sitting within the place you might be, you then simply don’t drink, don’t do the cocaine.” She continued, “‘The cocaine!’ I name it ‘the weed.’ I’m drug dumb. I don’t know shit about medication. I simply don’t try this as a result of I might by no means do something to—God forbid—break my profession. I worth my profession.”
Trachtenberg additionally confirmed that she had been in “conditions” the place she was round medication and alcohol, which left her “overly paranoid” about her environment. “I’ve been in conditions the place I’ve been afraid of placing my purse down as a result of I used to be touring the subsequent day and I knew that there was stuff on the counter. I’m simply overly paranoid,” she mentioned.
Trachtenberg died on Febraury 26, 2025, in New York Metropolis. She was 39 years previous. Her physique was discovered at 8 a.m. ET at One Columbus Place, a luxurious condominium on Central Park South in New York, after police responded to a name for a girl in cardiac arrest, based on TMZ. Once they arrived, officers discovered Trachtenberg unresponsive and she or he was pronounced lifeless on the scene. Trachenberg’s mom, Lana, was the one who discovered her “unresponsive, mendacity on her again in mattress” and referred to as the police.
TMZ additionally confirmed that Trachtenberg underwent a liver transplant shortly earlier than her loss of life. In accordance with the Mayo Clinic, a liver transplant is a surgical procedure that removes a lier that not capabilities correctly attributable to liver failure and replaces it with both a wholesome liver from a deceased donor or part of a wholesome liver from a residing donor. Per the group, cirrhosis—scarring of the liver—is the most typical reason behind continual liver failure and probably the most frequent purpose for a liver transplant.
The most important causes for cirrhosis embody Hepatitis B and C; alcoholic liver illness attributable to extreme alcohol situation; nonalcoholic fatty liver illness brought on by fats construct up within the liver; and genetic illnesses similar to hemochromatosis (which causes extreme iron buildup within the liver) and Wilson’s illness (which causes extreme copper buildup within the liver.) Different causes for a liver transplant embody illnesses that have an effect on bile ducts that carry bile from the liver, similar to biliary cirrhosis, major sclerosing cholangitis and biliary atresia.
Although it’s unclear why Trachtenberg wanted the liver transplant, a supply informed Folks that, within the yr earlier than her loss of life, Trachtenberg was “actually down emotionally” and had been coping with “well being points.”
“She informed buddies she was struggling,” the insider mentioned, including that Trachtenberg seemed “pale, gaunt” and “very skinny.” “She was actually, actually sick and open with these in her circle about how a lot she was struggling.”
A supply additionally informed Us Weekly on the time that these round Trachtenberg knew she was ailing however didn’t understand how poor her well being was till she died. “All of us knew she was sick, however we didn’t understand how sick. For an extended whereas, she had again points after which bone issues; she fell a number of occasions,” the insider mentioned.
The supply additionally claimed that “each time” they spoke with Trachtenberg over the previous 10 years, there was one thing “flawed” along with her well being. “She lived backwards and forwards between New York and L.A.,” the insider mentioned. “If you requested her what she was doing for work, she would say she was taking good care of herself.”
A second supply informed the journal that “one thing felt off” the final time they noticed Trachtenberg. “You may sense one thing was happening while you noticed her. She was actually frail and had been sick for some time,” the insider mentioned.
A yr earlier than her loss of life, Trachtenberg clapped again at considerations over her well being amid hypothesis that she misplaced weight attributable to cosmetic surgery, drug use or an consuming dysfunction. “I’ve acquired a number of feedback lately about my look. I’ve by no means had cosmetic surgery I’m completely happy and wholesome. Examine your self haters,” she wrote in an Instagram put up in January 2024.
In one other put up that very same month, Trachtenberg additionally addressed claims that her completely different look was attributable to malnourishment. “Enjoyable reality. That is my face. Not malnutrition no issues. Why do you could have you hate? Get a calendar,” she wrote on Instagram. She additionally shared one other put up additional shutting down rumors she underwent cosmetic surgery in March 2024. “It’s good to be #pure 💙💋,” she wrote.
Within the feedback of one other Instagram put up on the time, Trachtenberg responded to followers who claimed she seemed “sick.” “Clarify to me how I look sick,” she wrote in response to at least one commenter earlier than explaining that her completely different look was attributable to her changing into older and never a illness. “Did you lose a calendar and never understand I’m not 14. I’m 38. How unhappy so that you can depart such a remark.”
