Fans were saddened by the passing of Michelle Trachtenberg last year.
Known for her roles in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Gossip Girl,” Trachtenberg was just 39 years old.
Tributes From Co-Stars
After her passing, Trachtenberg was honored by many of the actors who worked with her, ranging from “Buffy” star Sarah Michelle Gellar to her “Gossip Girl” co-star Blake Lively.
Now, Trachtenberg’s co-star from a far earlier project is coming forward, someone who worked with the actress when she was was just 10 years old: Rosie O’Donnell, who played trusty nanny Ole Golly in the 1996 movie “Harrriet the Spy.”
Michelle Trachtenberg’s Passing Was ‘A Tragedy’
GettyIn a recent interview with Variety, O’Donnell shared her thoughts on losing Trachtenberg at such a young age.
“It was a tragedy,” O’Donnell said. “She was a real genius child who was able to memorize anything, pick up her lines, you could improvise with her, and she was connected and right there.”
O’Donnell also recalled the child star being close to her mother and sister. “They were a very loving family, and then, you know, she got into drugs and alcohol, I believe, and then I lost touch with her,” O’Donnell revealed.
The News She Heard Was Not Good
In the years that the two weren’t in contact, the news that O’Donnell heard about Trachtenberg was disheartening. However, in the years leading up to her passing, they reconnected.
“In the last few years, when she was in pretty bad shape, she would call me and we would talk,” O’Donnell recalled. “I also called her mother to find out what was going on, and her mother told me what was happening, and how long it had been happening.”
Plans to reunite face to face, however, never materialized. “We were supposed to see each other three or four times, and she just never showed up — sometimes at restaurants, other times at my house where we’d had someone prepare the whole meal,” O’Donnell said. “I would call her and go, ‘Honey, are you heading over?’ and she’d go, ‘Was that today?'”
Trachtenberg Was ‘Not In Good Shape’
O’Donnell recognized that her former co-star had a problem, but didn’t realize the severity.
“She was not in good shape,” O’Donnell observed. “I didn’t think that she would die. With most people suffering from addiction, their loved ones think that they’ll survive it, but you can die from your addiction to drugs or alcohol, and it happens too often that it must be taken seriously.”
Her Biggest Regret
O’Donnell concluded her comments about Trachtenberg by sharing her biggest regret.
“I wish I could have done more,” she said. “I tried to help her as much as I could, but she was inaccessible toward the end, and it was tragic. It reminded me of Whitney Houston where everyone knew what was going on, but no one was willing to say something, and often because the people that are closest to you are employed by you when you’re that big of an entity, and they don’t want to lose their job or their money,”
As O’Donnell explained, she has not been untouched by addiction. “It’s horrible and addiction has hit my family, too,” she shared. “I have a daughter who’s addicted. She’s been sober a year and a half and she’s currently in prison, sadly, but she was born addicted to drugs and never really had a fair shake. It’s very serious and there are millions of families in America going through the same thing.”
