Biography for
Michelle Trachtenberg More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

11 October 1985, New York City, New York, USA

Birth Name

Michelle Christine Trachtenberg

Nickname

Mitchie

Height

5' 7" (1.70 m)

Trivia

She worked with Sarah Michelle Gellar on "All My Children" (1970) before "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) and they were good friends. Sarah was the one who recommended Michelle for the part of Dawn.

She grew up in New York but moved to LA three years ago with her mom. Her dad still lives in New York. Her sister Irene recently graduated from college.

Appeared at the Xcel Center at a Sci-fi expo alongside Kristine Sutherland (May 2002)

Said the last line ever in the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) series.

She loves to play tennis.

She helped President Bill Clinton launch The Coalition for a Drug Free America campaign.

Attended Notre Dame High School. She graduated with awards in Social Studies and Religion and was also named under the California Scholarship Federation.

Attended Bay Academy Junior High School in Brooklyn, New York

Speaks Russian.

Her birthday is also the wedding anniversary of her "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) cast mate Alyson Hannigan (Willow) and "Angel" (1999)'s Alexis Denisof (Wesley).

Was able to sneak a souvenir from the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) set when the show ended, a wooden stake.

Studied ballet as a child, which helped her perfect her skating abilities for Ice Princess (2005).

Is of Russian Jewish and German descent.

Participated in the golf tournament in Jamaica hosted by Carmen Electra.

Hobbies: Swimming, ice skating, writing poems.

Attended Isaac Asimov Public School 99 for elementary school.

Has an older sister Irene, b. 1978

Spent the summer of 2005 as a non-paid apprentice at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts.

Has separately played the daughter of both actors who played the young married couple Laura Ingalls Wilder and Almanzo Wilder in "Little House on the Prairie" (1974). She played Melissa Gilbert's daughter in Christmas in My Hometown (1996) (TV) and played Dean Butler's daughter in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997).

Was submitted for Emmy consideration for her guest-starring role on "House M.D." (2004).

Her grandparents live in Israel.

Ranked #86 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2007 list.

Shares birthday with actress Emily Deschanel.

Also attended PS 188 throughout Kindergarten. Was in the Gifted and Talented program with teacher Mrs. Gomez.

Personal Quotes

"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."

Where Are They Now

(September 2002) A senior at Notre Dame high school in Sherman Oaks, California

(April 2004) Filming the Disney movie Ice Princess (2005) in Toronto, Canada.

(February 2006) Filming Black Christmas (2006), in Vancouver, Canada.

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