'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' star Michelle Trachtenberg's official cause of death revealed
Michelle Trachtenberg's official cause of death has been revealed as complications from diabetes, authorities confirmed on Wednesday.
The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner confirmed to Fox News Digital that she died naturally of complications from diabetes mellitus, citing lab results.
The cause and manner of death was amended after a review of her laboratory test results.
Her cause of death had previously been listed as "undetermined."
Her family said after her death they didn't want an autopsy, and the medical examiner's office agreed because foul play wasn't suspected.
The "Gossip Girl" star was found unresponsive in her Manhattan apartment on Feb. 26. She was 39 years old.
Trachtenberg began her career in Nickelodeon's "The Adventures of Pete and Pete." In 1996, she made her film debut, playing the title role in "Harriet the Spy."
The actress moved on to star as Dawn Summers on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" for three years. The series ran from 1997-2003.
Trachtenberg had met Sarah Michelle Gellar, the show's lead, while working on "All My Children" in 1994, and the two remained close before the actress joined "Buffy" in its fifth season.
"I had known Sarah since we worked together on 'All My Children,'" Trachtenberg previously told the BBC. "We worked together for about two and a half years, and we had kept in touch through the years when she moved to Hollywood and began building her career from that point."
Trachtenberg gained additional fame as Georgina Sparks on "Gossip Girl." She starred alongside Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Ed Westwick, Chace Crawford and Penn Badgley on the hit drama series.
She also starred in "The Ice Princess" and "EuroTrip."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
6 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Chris Robinson, ‘General Hospital' actor who famously played a doctor on TV, dies at 86
Chris Robinson, the actor who played Dr. Rick Webber on 'General Hospital' and also introduced America to a classic turn of phrase in a commercial for cough syrup, has died of heart failure. He was 86. Robinson died in his sleep just after midnight on Monday at home in Sedona, Ariz., according to filmmaker MJ Allen, who posted the news on Facebook. 'Jacquie (Chris' wife) just called me a bit ago and informed me that my good friend and collaborator Hollywood legend Chris Robinson has passed away,' the filmmaker, whose full name is Michael Jason Allen, wrote Monday afternoon. 'We knew this was coming, but it always sucks.' Though Robinson had 100 TV and film acting credits, according to IMDb, his most famous role might be one many people don't realize they are referencing: He was the actor in a Vicks Formula 44 cough syrup commercial who first spoke the words, 'I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV.' That phrase from 1984 was uttered again two years later in a second Vicks Formula 44 ad featuring Peter Bergman, 'The Young and the Restless' actor who at the time played Dr. Cliff Warner on 'All My Children.' The rest was pop-culture history. Born in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Nov. 5, 1938, Robinson appeared in more than 1,000 'General Hospital' episodes between 1978 and 1986, then returned for about 20 episodes in 2002 and one in April 2013. He was also in almost 250 episodes as Jack Hamilton on 'The Bold and the Beautiful,' mostly in the early 1990s but continuing into the early 2000s, and had 20 episodes as Jason Frame on 'Another World' in 1988 to 1989. He was a regular in the pages of Soap Opera Digest and acted with John Stamos, Rick Springfield and Richard Dean Anderson when their careers were just beginning. His episodic TV credits began in the 1960s and included 'The Donna Reed Show,' 'Gunsmoke,' 'Wagon Train,' 'Perry Mason' and 'Hogan's Heroes,' to name a few. Robinson starred in films alongside Mickey Rooney, Charlton Heston, Dick Clark, Bruce Dern, Ted Cassidy and Yvonne De Carlo and directed film and TV including episodes of 'Baretta,' 'Cannon' and 'Barnaby Jones.' He wrote, starred in and directed the 1977 movie 'The Great Balloon Race' with Frank Gifford, Phyllis Diller, Cab Calloway and Bert Parks. Robinson appeared in three films directed by Allen: 'Just for a Week,' 'Barely Dreaming' and 'Yancey McCord: The Killer That Arizona Forgot About.' In 1985, the actor — then living in Glendale, Calif. — pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion charges and could have faced two years in prison for filing false tax returns on $490,000 in income from 1980 to 1981. He managed to avoid a sentence that would have forced him to leave 'General Hospital' by serving his time on nights and weekends to remain available for daytime taping. He was also ordered to pay all back taxes and interest. In more recent years, Robinson enjoyed time on his ranch with his artist wife of 14 years, Jacquie Shane-Robinson. 'We spent a few holidays together, staying out at his ranch having buffets by the creek, and him and Jacquie coming to my house to discuss projects were always a treat,' Allen wrote on Facebook. 'Good times. ... RIP, good friend and legend. Respect to Jacquie and the fam.' Rhonda Robinson, one of the actor's ex-wives, posted a vintage photo of a 1980s Daytime TV Yearbook on Monday showing Chris Robinson and their young sons, writing, 'Seems like a lifetime ago. When we got married I was sure it would last forever, but unfortunately it did not. But we did create the best sons. They will miss you. RIP Chris.' Robinson is survived by his wife Jacquie as well as sons Shane, Coby, Christian, Taylor, Christopher, Christopher Lance and Robb Walker from his numerous previous marriages. He had five grandchildren.
Los Angeles Times
6 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Harris Yulin, prolific actor known for ‘Scarface,' ‘Training Day' and ‘Frasier,' dies at 87
Harris Yulin, the veteran stage and screen actor whose career notably included roles in 'Scarface,' 'Training Day' and 'Ghostbusters II,' has died. He was 87. Yulin died Tuesday of cardiac arrest in New York, his manager Sue Leibman and his family confirmed in a statement to The Times on Thursday. He was 'part of the vanguard of a generation who cared passionately about the craft of acting — this deep, lifelong dedication led to extraordinary, resonant performances that were a gift to audiences, the actors he worked with, and the art of acting itself,' said the statement, which also remembered the Los Angeles native as an 'avid birder and lover of the sea.' Born Nov. 5, 1937, Yulin enjoyed a varied screen acting career that spanned multiple decades and spawned more than 100 credits, according to IMDb. In film he portrayed a corrupt Los Angeles official in cahoots with Denzel Washington's immoral narcotics officer in 'Training Day,' a dismissive judge who oversees the court case against the supernatural sleuths in 'Ghostbusters II,' and a detective interested in doing business with Al Pacino's Tony Montana in 'Scarface.' Yulin counted numerous TV series among his credits, including 'WIOU,' 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' '24,' 'Nikita' and 'Veep.' In the final decade of his life, he also appeared in Netflix series 'Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt' and 'Ozark.' In 1996 he earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for guest actor in a comedy for his appearance as crime boss Jerome Belasco in the hit NBC series 'Frasier.' Beyond TV and film, Yulin pursued a prolific career on stage with included Broadway productions of 'Hedda Gabler,' 'The Price,' 'The Visit,' and 'Watch on the Rhine' and off-Broadway shows of 'Hamlet,' 'Arts and Leisure' and 'Rain Dance.' Throughout his career, Yulin brought his talents to the Court Theater and Goodman Theater in Chicago, the Gate Theatre in Dublin and the Bay Street Theater in New York. Yulin was also a stage director who oversaw productions of several plays, including 'The Glass Menagerie,' 'The Trip to Bountiful,' 'This Lime Tree Bower,' 'Men's Lives' and 'The Man Who Came to Dinner.' Yule was also an instructor who taught at Juilliard, Columbia University and at HB Studio. He continued working on new projects up until his death, including the MGM+ series 'American Classic,' starring Kevin Kline, Laura Linney and Jon Tenney. Deadline reported that the series began production on the East Coast and Yulin was preparing to begin shooting his role this week. His role will be recast. Series co-creator and executive producer Michael Hoffman mourned Yulin in a statement:'[He] was very simply one of the greatest artists I have ever encountered.' Hoffman, who worked with Yulin on the 2005 film 'Game 6,' added: 'His marriage of immense technique with an always fresh sense of discovery, gave his work an immediacy and vitality and purity I've experienced nowhere else,' Hoffman said. 'And what he was as an actor, he was as a man, the grace, the humility, the generosity. All of us at 'American Classic' have been blessed by our experience with him. He will always remain the beating heart of our show.' Yulin is survived by his wife Kristen Lowman, son-in-law Ted Mineo, nephew Martin Crane and godchildren Marco and Lara Greenberg. He was preceded in death by his daughter Claire Lucido. A memorial will be held at a later date.
New York Post
9 hours ago
- New York Post
Miley Cyrus makes surprising nod to ex's father Arnold Schwarzenegger in new visual album
Miley Cyrus features one of her ex's parents in a major way in her new visual album. The 32-year-old musician premiered the movie musical, 'Something Beautiful,' which accompanies her ninth studio album of the same name, at the Tribeca Film Festival. Advertisement The film acts as a visual album, showcasing the record's 13 songs with visuals and music videos which enhance the album's overall message and theme. Among the visuals included in the film is Cyrus strutting down the Hollywood Walk of Fame, before lying down on top of 'The Terminator' star, Arnold Schwarzenegger's star on the historic sidewalk, as part of the music video for the song 'Walk of Fame,' featuring Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes, per People. Cyrus famously dated the actor's son, Patrick Schwarzenegger, for one year, from 2014 to 2015. The 'Hannah Montana' star previously opened up about filming on The Hollywood Walk of Fame during an appearance on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' in which she told the talk show host her 'leg began to disintegrate' after filming. Advertisement 'And then the doctor goes, 'Do you have any idea why you would have such a brutal infection on your kneecap?' she said on the show. 'To have a surgeon look at you and say, 'Yuck…' They open up cadavers. They see inside the guts of humans and they're looking at me, telling me I'm disgusting. And they do brain operations!' 3 Miley Cyrus arriving at the premiere of 'Something Beautiful with Miley Cyrus' at the Tribecua Festival in New York City on June 6, 2025. Photo by Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images After the film's premiere on Friday, Cyrus sat down for a Q&A panel, where she was met with hecklers demanding she sing, with one fan shouting, 'We thought this was a concert! We paid $800!' as heard in a video posted to X. Following multiple other outbursts from fans, Cyrus began to sing her 2009 hit, 'The Climb,' and the whole thing turned into a sing-a-long, with the crowd joining in. Advertisement Since their breakup in 2015, Patrick has appeared in many projects, before starring in season three of 'The White Lotus,' telling Fox News Digital 'it's been a wild journey' since the show premiered. 3 Miley Cyrus and Patrick Schwarzenegger dated from 2014 to 2015. Photo byHe and his dad recently appeared on Variety's 'Actors on Actors' series in which they discussed their respective careers. 'It was a great conversation. It was kind of a really cool moment for me to be able to have that conversation with my dad, hear about his kind of journey at the beginning of his film career, and how our different careers differ,' he told Fox News Digital about the conversation. 'What it was like for him to work with certain directors and writers like James Cameron, how they differ from Mike White.' Advertisement His parents, the 'True Lies' star and journalist, Maria Shriver, separated in 2011 after 25 years of marriage after Arnold confessed to fathering a child with the family's housekeeper during their marriage. 3 Cyrus' musical album features a reference to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/Shutterstock They have remained close, however, having been seen together on social media celebrating milestone events. Looking back at his own career, Patrick explained having the support of his parents throughout his journey has 'been a blessing.' 'They've been supporters of me on the sidelines for the past whatever years,' he said. 'They've been supportive through film projects that were extremely small and not seen by many, and then also through 'The White Lotus' that's seen by everyone, so it's been great to have them by my side.'
