Michelle Trachtenberg Biography

This section contains Michelle Trachtenberg Biography
Born as Michelle Christine Trachtenberg on October 11, 1985 in New York City, Michelle was a daughter of a Russian ex-actress turned puppeteer and an AT&T field engineer. She was born and raised with Jewish heritage, celebrating both Christmas and Hanukkah in Israel, where her grandparents live. She speaks fluent Russian. Both Michelle and her older sister Irene attended P.S. 254 Elementary School and Bay Academy Junior High School in Brooklyn, New York.

Michelle’s first TV appearance was in 1988 for a Wisk Detergent commercial. After this breakthrough, she appeared in more than 100 commercials. In between 1994 and 1996, Michelle Trachtenberg appeared in her first big role in “The Adventures of Pete & Pete” and portrayed Lily Montgomery in “All My Children”, where she first worked with future co-star Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Michelle Trachtenberg’s first lead role was in the 1996 film, “Harriet the Spy”. She then appeared in the TV series, “Meego”, which earned her a Young Artist Award. In 1999, she played the niece of a gadget master in “Inspector Gadget” and starred in the movie, “Can’t Be Heaven”.

In 2000, Michelle Trachtenberg became a popular face as she portrayed the role of Dawn Summers in the TV action series, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, where she became a regular cast until 2003 when the show ended. Luckily, as soon as the TV series ended, Michelle Trachtenberg returned to film in Jeff Schaffer’s comedy flick, “EuroTrip”. She also had several appearances in the HBO series, “Six Feet Under”.

In 2005, Michelle Trachtenberg played the lead role in the Walt Disney film, “Ice Princess” alongside Kim Cattrall. In this comedy-drama film, she plays an A-student named Casey Carlyle who chooses a career as a professional fig skater, instead of following the footsteps of her mom who is an educator.

With Michelle Trachtenberg’s busy schedule, she still had the time for a normal life – dating Canadian actor, Shawn Ashmore from 2004 to end of 2006.

Aside from TV gigs and major films, Michelle Trachtenberg also has an appearance in a music video of the rock bank, “Fall Out Boy” in their single, “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race”. She also had a small part in the video, “Tired of Being Sorry”, which was directed by Joaquin Phoenix for the band Ringside. She landed the female lead in the ABC comedy, “The Hill” and provided the voice of Tika Waylan in the animated movie, “Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight”, which will be released in 3rd quarter of 2007.

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