Yesterday, we reported that the Hollywood star Michelle Trachtenberg of Gossip Girl fame had been found dead at the age of 39. Now, Trachtenberg’s Harriet The Spy co-star and friend Rosie O’Donnell has broken her silence about her untimely death.
O’Donnell Pays Tribute To Trachtenberg
Trachtenberg was an up-and-coming 10 year-old child star when she starred in Harriet The Spy alongside O’Donnell back in 1996. O’Donnell, 62, has been left devastated by Trachtenberg’s death.
“Heartbreaking,” O’Donnell told US Weekly. “I loved her very much. She struggled the last few years. I wish I could have helped.”
O’Donnell and Trachtenberg starred as Ole Golly and Harriet, respectively, in the film adaptation of the beloved Louise Fitzhugh’s 1964 novel Harriet The Spy. The movie has since become a cult classic and is beloved by 90s kids everywhere to this day.
Check out O’Donnell and Trachtenberg on the set of Harriet The Spy in the video below.
Though Trachtenberg had worked in television before, Harriet The Spy was her film debut. She was always open about enjoying her time on set with O’Donnell.
“I probably bonded with Rosie [O’Donnell] the most,” Trachtenberg told Uproxx in 2016. “She was very caring, and so funny. When we had to be serious for a scene we would, but we always went back to giggling and playing games when that scene was done. She was a very giving actor, even off camera.”
“Any scene with Rosie was so special for me,” she continued. “She was amazing to work with, and we genuinely had a great time together. She respected me as an actress and I learned a lot from her. The hardest scene was saying goodbye to Golly.”
Check out that iconic scene in the video below.
Trachtenberg Loved Playing Harriet
Even decades later, after many other successes, Trachtenberg still looked back fondly on her time playing Harriet.
“I had a very outgoing personality and my mom and I worked hard on rehearsing the scenes round the clock — my passion for the role won the producers’ hearts,” she stated. “I loved everything about Harriet, particularly that she was a writer because I had been writing stories from the second I learned how to write.”
It was Trachtenberg’s mother Lana who found her deceased at around 8am on Wednesday morning. The NYPD told People Magazine that police were called to 1 Columbus Place in New York City minutes later.
“Upon arrival, officers observed a 39-year-old female unconscious and unresponsive,” the NYPD said. “EMS responded to the location and pronounced the victim deceased. Criminality is not suspected.”
While no official cause of death has been revealed, it’s been confirmed that Trachtenberg recently received a liver transplant. She had allegedly been struggling with alcohol in the final years of her life – which explains Rosie’s comments.
A source told People that Trachtenberg had been “really down emotionally” as she dealt with various “health issues.”
“She told friends she was struggling,” the source explained. “She was really, really sick and open with those in her circle about how much she was struggling.”
The insider went on to say that Trachtenberg looked “pale, gaunt” and “very thin” at the end of her life.
Trachtenberg’s Final Public Appearance
Trachtenberg had last been seen publicly last Thursday, six days before her death. She was spotted at the time with a woman at the trendy Sartiano’s restaurant in SoHo, New York. Staffers at the restaurant, however, were shocked by Trachtenberg’s appearance.
“She looked really unwell, just like very sickly,” a Sartiano’s restaurant worker told Daily Mail hours after her death. “She was thin, like tiny, she couldn’t walk down the stairs…she was not in a great mood, it wasn’t the best impression.”
“It’s spooky because she was in here just last week on Thursday night,” the staffer added. “We only just found out about (her death) a few hours ago and it’s really sad. She was just with one other person, a woman who was really nice.”
Check out Trachtenberg in happier times in the video below.
Please join us in saying a prayer for Trachtenberg’s loved ones during this tragic time.
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