American actress Michelle Trachtenberg was born on October 11, 1985 in New York City. She made her first television appearance when she was just three years old, appearing in a television commercial for Wisk detergent; she would go on to appear in more than a hundred other ads. She began acting for television programs in 1991, marking her acting debut as a guest on Law & Order. She would get her first prominent television stint in 1993, originating the role of Lily Montgomery in the daytime soap All My Children. A year later, she starred as mischievous Nona Mecklenberg in the Nickelodeon series The Adventures of Pete & Pete.
In 1996, Trachtenberg made her film debut, appearing as the title character in Harriet the Spy, the film adaptation of the children’s book. The following year, she became a regular in the short-lived science fiction series Meego, where she won a Young Artist Award. After appearing on the 1999 film Inspector Gadget, she took a role in the hit television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She played Dawn Summers, the younger sister of lead Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), whose existence was initially unexplained as it’s always been established that Buffy is an only child. Later it was revealed that Dawn is a mystical object transformed into a human and sent to protect Buffy against the villainous Glory (Clare Kramer). She became a regular from the fifth season, and stayed until its end in 2003.
Trachtenburg has since starred in several other films, including EuroTrip, Ice Princess, Mysterious Skin and Beautiful Ohio. She also played guest roles in House and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and a recurring role in Six Feet Under. She also had a major recurring role in Gossip Girl, where she played drug addicted antagonist Georgina Sparks, who becomes a bad influence on Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively).