Michelle Tratchenberg is DEAD TO ME

Oh my. I hope it wasn’t a spy.

I guess she won't be in the Buffy reboot unless she plays a corpse.

Who?

R2 Well they say everything has a blessing in disguise. This is great news for the reboot. Her character was tedious.

Such a shame.

She was the best part of "Gossip Girl."

Another early child star demise. They are legion.

Horrible news. When the stories about Joss Whedon being a dick came out a few years ago, I remember thinking her post about it was very odd, what with all the random full stops. It almost reads as though it was written by someone with a TBI.

So many child stars end up damaged, yet people still push their kids into that industry.

The cause of death is "not suspicious."

Suicide?

Rope or Bullets? ...... Asking for a friend.

Oh, I see she recently had a liver transplant.

Recent liver transplant

Wow I didn’t know much about her. Was she sick?

Was she an alcoholic?

Wow, RIP. I was never a huge fan of the "Dawn" character, but she played her very well and seemed like a nice person.

Willow better not try to bring her back from the dead. We know how that worked out last time.

Did she have substance abuse issues?

Years ago when Michelle landed the role in Harriet the Spy, I sat behind her grandmother in a jury duty waiting room. Grandma pulled out a huge album filled with photos of Michelle which she passed around and proudly told everyone about her granddaughter.

What happens now to the Key?

ABC local news said she was found dead by her mother.

What happened?

That's sad. She didn't really seem to be a troubled child star.

My best friend’s husband had a liver transplant after being diagnosed with Wilson’s disease. It’s been very difficult for him to live with. He has all kinds of abdominal issues, is constantly unwell.

Poor Michelle.

[quote] It almost reads as though it was written by someone with a TBI.

What?

I’m thinking drugs. Probably blew out her liver and didn’t stop after her transplant.

RIP

Has Sarah Michelle Gellar released a statement?

Has Rosie released a statement?

Per TMZ, “A source tells us she recently underwent a liver transplant and had struggled with alcohol issues for several years.”

That's so sad.

Wow, 39 too. RIP. One of the best child actors of her generation.

That’s a damn shame.

Once she got over the whole younger sister brat thing who stole from the magic shop on Buffy, she was a good character.

So this is the second death I read about after someone gets a liver transplant. What’s the deal with that?

She once said she'd see Joss Whedon in hell.

You can bet your last dollar that Justin Baldoni is responsible and I’m the dame to prove it.

Never heard of her, but this is pretty damn scary.

She also struggled for years with severe eating disorders. Then the alcoholism. Something BAD happened to that girl.

RIP Michelle. So sad. I liked her in Mysterious Skin too. I had noticed on her Instagram photos in the last few months that she looked unwell.

Horrible. I grew up watching her and was always a fan. There were people suspecting she had something wrong because she looked very unhealthy in photos last year—her eyes were yellow and people were suspecting she had cirrhosis. There was a DL thread about it. She was also quite gaunt and sickly looking, so I too suspected she had an alcohol and/or drug problem.

Crazy. Those Buffy rewatches are gonna hit different now.

Aww sad. Rip

A traumatic brain injury, R23.

Loved her on EuroTrip. How much do you have to drink to have a liver transplant in your 30s?

R41 If you're a drunkarexic, it happens pretty damn fast.

R42 I see. I guess my "problem" then is that I'm too fat. Thanks.

I have the feeling there will be another surprise celeb death before the Oscars on Sunday. It will be like Bill Paxton's death in 2017.

There are other causes of liver failure too besides alcohol. We don’t know yet about her.

She had a history with addiction and ended up with liver disease. She recently had a liver transplant.

I had to leave work early after hearing this. I just got home minutes ago. This made me feel sick. She was only 39!!! I’m only a few years behind her. This could have been me!

Rosie's very brief statement

Vaxxed?

She was friends with Princess Eugenie.

[quote] She had a history with addiction

Link.

Who the fuck is that, r50?

Pretty astonishing that Nick Brendan isn't the first of the main Buffy cast to croak.

R53, I still remember him on Dr. Phil. So messed up.

Following his August 2021 arrest, Brendon suffered from paralysis in his genitals and legs. Two months later, he underwent another spinal surgery, during which his spinal cord was punctured, resulting in a cerebrospinal fluid leak.[51] In 2022, Brendon suffered a heart attack and was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect.

R55, that is terrible. I rarely feel bad about celebs that sounds like hell on earth.

r53 I might be a bitch for saying this, but I've always wondered why his twin brother couldn't just... you know, take care of him? Get him the help he needs, not take him behind the shed and put him out of his misery, I mean.

And yeah, I also was always certain he'd be the first Scooby to go.

Loved her in Harriet the Spy. I never watched Buffy so I'm only familiar with her from Harriet. Poor thing, RIP.

Wow. I'm shocked. I knew nothing about her post-Buffy. The picture at r24 is so sad.

The death may have been caused by surgery complications, but my guess would be it's similar to what happened to Amy Winehouse who was sober for a while and relapsed. She no longer had the tolerance and died of alcohol poisoning.

[quote]She no longer had the tolerance and died of alcohol poisoning.

I think so, too. Probably received some good news regarding that planned Buffy revival by Chloe Zhao and then got too carried away with the celebratory drinking. It happens.

My best friend's sister served with her great aunt's cousin on jury duty and all she kept jabbering about was what a cunt Michelle was.

r61 Wow, such a small place, America.

Her nickname around town was Michelle Trackmarksberg.

R50 for a quid you too can be " friends" with Princess Eugenie. She is Fergie's & Andrew's daughter after all.

Lol at the second sentence of her Wiki page: Michelle Christine Trachtenberg (October 11, 1985 – February 26, 2025)[1] was an American actress. She was an icon to all and was overall an amazing actor.

I'm betting she wasn't a bigger cunt than you R61.

[quote]Wow I didn’t know much about her. Was she sick?

Not any more.

Is there starting to be a Buffy curse?

r68 In what way? She's the first of the cast to die. SMG will live forever, thanks to those healthy fucking baked goods she hawks. Alyson Hannigan has more money than god and looks healthy as well. Brendon has been on deathwatch for more than a decade now, so that one won't be a surprise when it finally happens.

I'm not even going to contemplate anything happening to Anthony Head.

If anything, Angel was the cursed show. Glenn Quinn died at 32, Andy Hallett at 33.

Only 39. Very sad.

Meanwhile Keanu Reaves still walks among you, mortals.

I’m 39!

[Quote]I had to leave work early after hearing this. I just got home minutes ago. This made me feel sick. She was only 39!!! I’m only a few years behind her. This could have been me!

R74 😂😂

RIP Michelle. She did a nice job as the Britney Spears analogue in "Six Feet Under," who slept with Keith when he was her bodyguard.

you lose R66

Sad. Booze will fuck you up.

Good news is, we won't have to put up with her on any Buffy reboot. I hated her character.

Reminds me of a guy I used to work with. He was an alcoholic and went into liver failure. He had to be sober for six months to qualify for a liver transplant and he couldn’t do it. He died at 39.

Damn. I followed her on IG and besides some unknown health issues she struck me as someone who had some kind of trauma in her past that was influencing her. At least that was always my suspicion.

Why is R77 posting a photo of his mouth?

Mercifully, I have r77 blocked and can't even see the preview in r81

I'm guessing now EVERYONE has 77 blocked.

Young people seem to be dropping like flies🦟🦟🦟

lol yes I had blocked him as well

Melissa Rivers posted a sentimental message about her on social media. She said Michelle was her best friend, always made her laugh, spoke to each other every day.

Oy I'm verklempt! To lose such a talentless Jewess at such a tender age. Will you bubbies of DL be sitting shiva?

Saw a GIF of Michelle on social media and thought for a moment it was a teenage SMG. Good casting choice for sisters. (Except Buffy and Dawn weren't actually sisters. But the monks made Dawn out of Buffy's blood. But then, the reason Buffy was able to sacrifice herself in Dawn's place is that their blood is identical, so they should actually look like identical twins. But then, Buffy's blood closing the portal never made sense in the first place...)

^ nerd

^ duh!

[quote]She also struggled for years with severe eating disorders. Then the alcoholism. Something BAD happened to that girl.

Whedon was not allowed to be left alone in her presence.

Read into that what you will.

Is that a post mortem photo?

Because it looks like one.

Can I get it in sepia?

That's not true, R91, at least not as you are implying. She had a chaperone with everyone on set, due to her age.

Blind Item

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024

Blind Item #2 Speaking of drug use, this former A- list mostly television actress all of you know, who was a mainstay in several primetime teen dramas is dealing with the aftermath of meth addiction. It is why she has been out of the public eye for the past couple of years.

re: the rule about Joss not being allowed to be alone with Michelle - I suspect there was an occasion where he just went too far in criticising her performance. We all know Joss could be cutting, even downright cruel, to his actors and writers. I doubt he behaved inappropriately towards her in a sexual sense. There are lots of stories of Joss being deeply unpleasant, but I've never read anything to suggest he would prey on an adolescent girl.

She started in commercials at three and had a high school education. Doesn't give you much life experience beyond trying to survive in the industry.

Michelle Trachtenberg was one of those actors a certain generation grew up with.

From The Adventures of Pete & Pete to Harriet the Spy, she was a staple of childhood entertainment. Then came Buffy, followed by National Lampoon’s EuroTrip, which my old roommates watched 4 times in a row.

Later, she was the chaotic Georgina Sparks on Gossip Girl. I almost completely forgot about Black Christmas.

She’s was a part of so many elder millennial defining pop culture moments without ever feeling overexposed.

So was she back on the meth, or what happened?

What was on her iPod?

50 Ways to Leave Your Liver

R69 Both Xander and Angel have had numerous struggles with substance abuse and medical issues.

Michelle looked sickly for several years but aside from the yellow eyes, she didn’t have alcohol bloat or anything like that. She looked gaunt in a way that most hardcore meth users look, but based on her social media alone, I never picked up on any psychosis or anything like that, which usually accompanies hardcore meth use. I noticed that after the late 2000s she basically quit working aside from a few small gigs here and there, which always seemed weird to me because she was established and talented. It put up red flags that maybe there was something going on in her life that was getting in the way of her career. The whole thing is really sad to me.

I remember her from Nickelodeon's Pete & Pete. She was good.

[quote] Melissa Rivers posted a sentimental message about her on social media. She said Michelle was her best friend, always made her laugh, spoke to each other every day.

Oh, she’s so full of shit.

In gay years she was already dead and buried years ago.

Her hair was falling out.

TMZ says her mother saw her alive at 10pm last night and found her dead at 8am this morning.

R.I.P. ❤

R32 She's definitely in Heaven and would be looking down on him.

How sad r106

Michelle's performance as Marina Oswald in NatGeo's TV movie Killing Kennedy was pretty good and the only memorable thing from it.

Given that her mother said she was alive and well at 10pm the night before, I have to wonder if she relapsed and overdosed on something. I know it is very difficult for addicts/alcoholics to get liver transplants, so she would had to have went through a period of sobriety in order to be eligible for a donor. For her to drop dead in the middle of the night like that makes me think she may have used again and taken too much of whatever substance she was absuing. This happens all the time, especially with heroin addicts.

She was adorable in Mysterious Skin. I also loved her in the '06 Black Christmas remake, which was pure camp fun. Her career seemed to have evaporated shortly after that film. I can't help but wonder if this was when her substance abuse issues began.

Has Blake Lively commented? Does she even give a shit?

R112 I highly doubt it

R111, It did seem to evaporate but she was apparently working the whole time. I had no idea she'd done so many guest spots over the years. She also began writing and selling projects after joining the WGA. The last I saw her she had popped up in the Gossip Girl reboot. It seems like she stopped doing much in 2021.

Also it seems, according to what her mother said, her body had already started to reject the liver transplant and it had caused more issues with her thyroid.

R112, Blake has spoken. People would have really come after her if she didn't.

This was just over three years ago, and she looks fairly healthy to me here. Hardcore alcoholics usually have facial bloat and distended stomachs, which I don't see here. My aunt drank herself into multiple organ failure at 45 and she had those telltale signs of chronic alcohol abuse. I wonder if Michelle may have contracted hepatitis C through intravenous drug use which could have led to her needing a liver transplant. That would make more sense.

[Quote]Given that her mother said she was alive and well at 10pm the night before, I have to wonder if she relapsed and overdosed on something.

It could have been toxic mould.

[quote] she would had to have went

We'll put that down to your grief, R110.

Hepatitis C usually takes 20 or more years before it starts causing cirrhosis.

R118 I didn't know that actually. Maybe that wasn't the case then. I'm not sure what could cause liver failure in a thirty-something then aside from chronic drug/alcohol abuse. I'm sure there are other genetic conditions, but I'm assuming those are rare.

I never watched anything she was in. Her career and my entertainment consumption are a Venn diagram with two circles that don’t intersect at all.

But 39 is damn young for someone who was a child star, then moved forward into being a grown-up and still a star. (I first wrote adult star but that has a porn vibe.)

I’ve mentioned before that I have a friend who was a star as a twenty something. She was the lead in a well-regarded cable drama. But after a while, chasing status parts just got to be such a crushing emotional burden to her, she dropped out.

For her, she was able to do that because something else developed in her life to take the place of acting celebrity. But I can see how, for others, it would lead to addiction and everything that comes with it.

It’s a mystery as to why she developed liver disease at a young age. But in those pictures from 2024, she clearly has jaundice and was heading toward liver failure.

r119 there have been a few articles (one of them on the DM) that mention her alcohol struggles/addiction. So that probably had something to do with it, I imagine.

[quote] Sources told TMZ that the actress had been battling alcohol issues.

That's from the DM article which I won't link.

She definitely didn't look as bad as Lara Flynn Boyle looked a couple of years ago. Giant ascites belly and swigging from a bottle of scotch in the car. Close to death. But she's still here

R123, the Irish genes are the only thing keeping Lara Flynn Boozehound alive.

Irish genes KEEP people alive?

I thought it was alcohol as a preservative

Amanda de Cadenet SPEAKS

This last photo of hers from her Insta is very telling – overexposed to the max so you can barely make out her facial features, which means her skin was a disaster. Her hair was also going, so her body was definitely breaking down in some way. Only her signature green eyes remain as we remember them, and now those are gone too.

This must be such a mindfuck for Kristine Sutherland, what with her corpse scene in Buffy.

I’m surprised by how saddened I am about this.

^^ Look at the blocking in that. Whedon definitely had IT, despite being a prick.

A whole bunch of Millennials feeling *really* damn old today.

We discussed her troubles in a thread last year

I'll always remember her on "Ice Princess", a film that doesn't seem often discussed on DL.

R133, Ice Princess was the little sister of The Cutting Edge. Both were both iconic.

R126, Amanda saying (and apparently deleting) "I will not share the details of our conversations over the last 6 months. But you knew that death was a high possibility," when the woman is already dead was cold as hell.

I'm still waiting for Sarah Michelle Gellar. She knows she'll have to, "go last." It was great seeing all of them together again at the EW Reunion.

[quote]It flopped at the box office, grossing $25.7 million during its theatrical run against a production budget of $25 million.

r133 They used to call that a flop, lol.

[quote][R126], Amanda saying (and apparently deleting) "I will not share the details of our conversations over the last 6 months. But you knew that death was a high possibility," when the woman is already dead was cold as hell.

I just took that to mean that Michelle understood the seriousness of her condition and the risks she was facing, in Amanda’s opinion.

r134 Let's be real, she's probably had that statement ready to go for a decade now. She just waiting to go last, like you said.

r136 You're right, and the fact that it could be read both ways is why she deleted it. She didn't anticipate some people would read it as bitchy.

Harriet the Spy was a big deal to a lot of millennial girls and gay boys. I was one of the latter, obviously. I was obsessed with that movie growing up, to the point that I fashioned a spy kit like hers and started writing in a notebook about the things I saw going around in my neighborhood. She was perfect in that role. I also remember being desperately in love with Gregory Smith in that movie—that puppy love crush was REAL.

She was also a part of my childhood on The Adventures of Pete & Pete, a weird early '90s kids show she guest-starred on regularly. As I grew up, I saw her in other things occasionally, like Mysterious Skin (which was a pretty big a change-up for her from her previous work) and the Black Christmas remake. Her career seemed to be maturing a bit at that point, but her film work didn't really go anywhere after. I never got into Buffy or Gossip Girl, but I know she had a lot of fans from those shows. It's a bummer that it had to end like this. She was talented and it never should have gone this way for her. The whole thing is really depressing.

I've never seen her in anything other than Buffy (and Mysterious Skin that one time), so to read that she's had this whole life and career outside of one of my favourite shows ever is quite disorienting. She IS Dawn to me!

[quote]I'm still waiting for Sarah Michelle Gellar. She knows she'll have to, "go last."

Hopefully she'll reference the correct person. She put out a tweet waxing poetic about how much Boy George's music and persona meant to her growing up and how much she was going to miss him when it was George Michael who had just died.

Alyson Hannigan shared a short and sweet post today. It seems Michelle was well-liked by the people who worked with her.

(And I believe she included in her tweet the Culture Club lyrics "Do you really want to hurt me?" to add to the future embarrassment.)

The Lara Flynn Boyle belly troll has come back to life

How on earth is LFB still alive?

r142 Alyson's post might honestly be too short, it could even be read as cold-adjacent. But she has so much money and she's had a career after that show, no wonder she's a bit detached by now.

On the other end of the spectrum is James Marsters, who couldn't help himself and did too much.

Not my Dawnie! 😭

“Next round is on me!”

I have no idea who to hate for not helping her and it sucks

The silence so far from Susan Dey speaks volumes.

Her casting in Harriet the Spy made no sense...she was nothing like the character.

But, they also cast Rosie O'Donnell so....

Hold my beer.

R97 I don't think EuroTrip was part of National Lampoon’s series.

Iconique.

Pitch-perfect composition.

Michelle, Gene... Please, for the love of god, let Liza not be the third one!!

I'll honestly just kill myself if she goes now.

Three years old — doing commercials ; early success ; insecurity ; gotta get thin ; thinner ; who cares if it’s meth ; and ending in death.

The curse of the child star; I feel sick and sad.

It was hard for the mom to stop her alcoholism because she was the primary breadwinner. She must have thought rough that some things just come with being a celebrity. It's either that or a regular shit-paying job, and good luck getting a child actor one of those.

[quote]I have the feeling there will be another surprise celeb death before the Oscars on Sunday. It will be like Bill Paxton's death in 2017.

R44 sure called it right.

Hopefully Roberto Orci counts and Liza is safe. 🙏

part of a long rich European pedigree dating back to Tracula Von Trachtenberg

Couldn't stand the Dawn character but she was AMAZING in GG.

I can play her in the inevitable Netflix movie of her life and death. It will be a little bit of a stretch, because I'm only early 30s, but a good make up artist could help me look 39.

"I'm devastated to learn of the passing of the best friend I ever had, Michelle Trachtenberg. This is particularly distressing, as she was set to testify in my case against sexual abuser Justin Baldoni. Like me, Michelle was also a victim of Justin's sexual predation. Trust me, she was a victim, too. Honest."

R155 Roberta - Michelle - Gene

the randomness of the trios is frightening

R166 So Trump escapes the grim reaper yet again, goddammit.

No one has mentioned her stint as a video girl? She’s even the thumbnail.

[quote]Trachtenberg, literally "a mountain of costumes" (in German), or "a mountain of thoughts" (in Yiddish), is actually the former German name of a town in Silesia now called by the Polish name Żmigród, where Jews were a significant part of the population until the Second World War and the Holocaust.

So she was a good old German Jew.

Viscount Tracula Gothenberg Von Trachtenberg

Has Nicholas Brendon issued a statement yet?

Sarah Michelle Gellar has spoken and even added a pic of herself with Shannen Doherty and Michelle.

It looks like her family has objected to an autopsy—so I guess this means we’ll never know what happened then?

Are you allowed to refuse an autopsy?

I liked Michelle in "Euro Trip".

But the main reason I watch the film every few years is to see cute Jewish boy Scott Mechlowicz, who shows his naked butt:

Scott Mechlowicz's butt is the one in the center:

r171 A beautiful message, though she kinda made it about herself at the end by focusing on her own life. I don't know about that part.

r173 Yes, when the death is not suspicious, you can refuse an autopsy. The family is clearly trying to hide the fact that she had been drinking heavily even after receiving a liver transplant. Which, fair enough, I imagine that would tarnish her legacy somewhat.

[quote]Scott Mechlowicz

He's so fucking boring, all he posts on his Insta are his kids. One of those breeders whose crotchfruit becomes their entire personality because they have none of their own, and/or because they had a fucked-up childhood and are trying to compensate for it. He even posted terrible A.I. crap of characters from Friends if they had kids with each other, eugh.

@r176 it's a direct quote from the final moments of the Buffy season 5 finale-- this is what Buffy says to Dawn right before she (Buffy) dies. (Gellar has replaced Dawn's name with Michelle's here, but otherwise I think it's the line word for word.)

Kinda tacky in its own way but I get what she's going for, I guess.

Oops, I'm wrong of course; in the original line, Buffy is asking Dawn to be brave and live for her, because she (Buffy) is about to die.

I have zero knowledge on the subject, but I am assuming that if a recent liver transplant patient started drinking heavily, it would put a lot of stress on said organ transplant? I know organ transplantation is a delicate situation and she’d had the transplant only a few months ago according to what I read. Even though the new liver would have been healthy, I am guessing alcohol consumption would wreak havoc more quickly(?)

R172 So...alcohol and/or drugs.

Got it.

Rosie says she was suffering and shit. Rosie still kept in touch with her?

Many states demand an autopsy if something is suspicious. They may not have a choice.

You can’t put undetermined on a death certificate without an autopsy.

[quote] Trachtenberg’s family objected to an autopsy for religious reasons so the medical examiner’s office was unable to determine how she died.

Oh, brother. They don’t want it coming out that she killed herself with years of addiction.

Did she have a will? How does the family get to say no autopsy on a 39 year old woman? I could understand a spouse.

As she was a recent liver transplant recipient, you'd think the family would want an autopsy to find out if it was related to the transplant.

The fact that they're opting to not have an autopsy tells me she had other issues going on...*cough*...drugs...*cough*...booze.

All the major networks have been covering the story of her death like it's the event of the century. Even Gene Hackman isn't pushing her completely out of the news cycle.

Geez, the way they're going on about her, you'd think she was as big as star as Meryl Streep.

She's getting more death press than Roberta Flack!

Eliza Dushku made a post on her story.

r180. -- I don't know how newly transplanted it was or how long the physical healing process takes, but alcohol is a blood thinner that can cause bleeding from healing incisions.

As far as drinking on a transplanted liver, David Crosby was pictured in the Enquirer drinking at a bar after he received his controversial liver transplant. This was in the mid-90s maybe a couple of years after his transplant. Checked Wiki. His transplant was in '94 (paid for by Phil Collins!), so was around 97 that the picture was taken. I don't know if he continued, but he was 82 when he died. That's Keith Richards territory .

It was controversial because of his much publicized drug and alcohol problems and the fact that he was bumped on the wait list. He got a new liver within weeks of his Hep C diagnosis.

Drinking is much harder on women's bodies. The have more fat and less water in their bodies than men so the same amount of alcohol causes greater intoxication in women than men of the same weight. (Alcohol is water soluble, not fat soluble so it's more greatly concentrated in women) Women's livers work harder at processing it.

[quote]As she was a recent liver transplant recipient, you'd think the family would want an autopsy to find out if it was related to the transplant.

I think the autopsy might be required so soon after a transplant that she apparently recovered from and was out of the hospital. The government keeps statistics on transplant programs and their outcomes. Because the organs can go to other programs if one is having too many complications or transplanting patients who are too high risk and unlikely to survive. Not sure her family can just veto it in this case.

[quote]All the major networks have been covering the story of her death like it's the event of the century. Even Gene Hackman isn't pushing her completely out of the news cycle.

You're so right about the media frenzy and Michelle’s name is getting a ton of traction, but fun fact: It’s not universal across the whole country. I went all Google Trends nerd on this and it turns out Gene Hackman is actually winning the search wars in places like Wyoming, New York, Nebraska, and West Virginia.

Meanwhile, Michelle’s dominating California, Texas, and Pennsylvania so, depending on where you are, the headlines might look very different.

Basically, it’s a 50/50 cultural custody battle, and the news is just following suit.

I thought they were required to do an autopsy if someone dies young, even if the cause of death isn't immediately suspicious

[quote]All the major networks have been covering the story of her death like it's the event of the century. Even Gene Hackman isn't pushing her completely out of the news cycle.

It’s the unusual circumstances of her death that has people interested. A young woman who may or may not have had drug or alcohol problems. And had a secret liver transplant, is now suddenly dead. It’s an odd story.

Before everyone jumps to the conclusion that she drank after her liver transplant, the statistics are 7 OUT OF 100 people die in the first 6 months after a transplant for various reasons (not because of drinking).

In other words, chances of survival are not good. And apparently, she had this transplant some time last year. It could have been just plain rejection which they already knew was happening. She could barely walk a few days ago when they took her to a favorite restaurant a few days ago. Perhaps they all knew it was coming/happening.

R195 Then there should definitely be an autopsy to find out if there complications with the liver transplant, especially if only 7 out of 100 people die in the first 6 months.

I guess I'm not good with math. I thought that was pretty shitty odds.

[quote]In other words, chances of survival are not good.

R195, 93% 6-month survival are pretty good chances.

If she was showing signs of rejection, she would have been hospitalized while they got it under control or determined if she should be retransplanted.

An article I read said the coroner honored the family’s request to refuse an autopsy, which I find odd.

R200 So...drugs and/or alcohol.

I disagree with the rather “corpse-ulent” photo that OP picked

Nicholas Brendon is no condition to be doing much of anything....

Oh, wow.

Who is Nicholas Brendon and what the fuck is wrong with him? Is he homeless?

[QUOTE]7 OUT OF 100 people die in the first 6 months after a transplant for various reasons

[QUOTE]In other words, chances of survival are not good.

R195, that's actually an excellent survival rate. What leads you to believe it's bad? Do you have insider knowledge that the epidemiology doesn't capture?

Jesus Christ on a cracker, r195 sounds RFK Jr certifiable.

[QUOTE]. It could have been just plain rejection which they already knew was happening. She could barely walk a few days ago when they took her to a favorite restaurant a few days ago. Perhaps they all knew it was coming/happening.

Why would "plain rejection" lead her relatives to take her on a painful excursion to a restaurant instead of receiving at least palliative care in a hospital ER? You make it sound as though her relatives are complicit in her untimely death.

Liver rejection imminent? > Let’s eat out and watch Michelle in excruciating pain down that last one morsel of chicken piccata at her favorite place so we can feel good about her early grave! Yeah!

Oh, shut the hell up r207.

You can go fuck right off, comparing me to RFK JR.

Jesus H. Christ, talk about blowing a statement out of proportion.

Asshole!

I'm so sorry, r208. I had erroneously thought I ignored you.

Hopefully, the second time will be a charm.

[QUOTE][R195], that's actually an excellent survival rate. What leads you to believe it's bad? Do you have insider knowledge that the epidemiology doesn't capture?

R195 - Where does your information about liver transplant survival rates come from? The back of a Cracker Jack box?

[quote]Who is Nicholas Brendon and what the fuck is wrong with him? Is he homeless?

He was on Buffy the Vampire Slayer as well R205, and is an absolute train wreck.

There are people who drink too much, there are drunks, and then there are people like Nicholas Brendon, Lara Flynn Boyle, and Andy Dick. Somehow they just keep ticking.

[R195] - Where does your information about liver transplant survival rates come from? The back of a Cracker Jack box?

I keep asking...

I'd expect her family to decline autopsy even if they unequivocally knew she was clean and sober, due to their religious beliefs.

The long-standing Reform Tratchenberg Jews? Really?

I never got the impression that Michelle or her family were particularly religious, but even a lot of Reform Jews will abide by Jewish customs (for various reasons, often out of reverence for the culture/tradition) even if they aren't devout.

[quote]The long-standing Reform Tratchenberg Jews? Really?

R215 beat me to it, but yes, I have Reform friends and family who've declined autopsy out of deference to tradition, whether the deceased was 40 or 90.

Couldn’t a blood/urine/tissue sample be taken to rule out or confirm a cause or contributing factor without doing a full autopsy.

A handful of states allow for religious exemption from autopsy, New York being one of them.

R205 He was an actor known for playing Xander on BTVS and a small part on Criminal Minds. He was molested when he was younger and never dealt with it, and like many people in similar positions, instead of getting help, he turned to alcohol and drugs and burned every bridge in sight.

Now, I believe he has back issues, so I'm sure he's popping opiates like Skittles.

That was painful to watch, R203.

Was Michelle close to her father, or were her parents separated? There are lots of photos of her with her mother, whom she seemed to be very close to; her sister as well. But there are no pictures of her dad.

That Nicholas Brendon IG post is pretty fucking sad. Fuck.

R191, they’re Jewish, it’s NYC, it’s not happening. Jews have huge political power in the city. And before anyone starts, I’m Jewish. People scream religion and the government always bows to it. You can get away with almost anything by doing that in the US. My feeling is that her mother doesn’t want the truth coming out. Unfortunately for her, people talk. It’ll end up coming out one way or another.

Uh, what if the death is fishy?

So, a Jewish wife wanting to get her hubbys fortune can poison his lox and then cry, "No Autopsy! He had a heart attack!" and get away with it?

I just found out today that Michelle was the voice behind one of the funniest things Adult Swim's Robot Chicken ever did. RIP

(Loud noise warning)

I completely memory-holed the fact that she was in "Inspector Gadget" with Matthew Broderick and Rupert Everett. In fact, I kind of memory-holed that movie altogether, but reading through her filmography jogged the recesses of my brain—I remember my mom taking me to see it in the theater when I was a kid. I think I probably wanted to see it because I was a big fan of "Harriet the Spy".

Also, this show (along with The Scariest Places on Earth with Linda Blair) was a huge deal to me as a kid who was obsessed with all things creepy. Another lost gem.

R48- I don’t care what that big fat PUMPKIN 🎃 HEAD has to say.

I'm surprised at the number of heartfelt think pieces about Michelle's death I've read over the past few days. All of them seem to have the common theme of "I didn't think her death would affect me as much as it has." Too bad she couldn't have heard all these kind words while she was still here.

[quote] Too bad she couldn't have heard all these kind words while she was still here.

That very much reminds me of what was said about, Jan Hooks upon her death.

She made a lovely little film called Ice Princess with Joan Cusack and Kim Cattrall.

R219, Brendon has had it really rough. Here's what someone posted here earlier from Brendon. This sounds like hell on earth. I can only imagine his drug use escalated after all this happened (and I don't blame him):

[quote] Following his August 2021 arrest, Brendon suffered from paralysis in his genitals and legs. Two months later, he underwent another spinal surgery, during which his spinal cord was punctured, resulting in a cerebrospinal fluid leak.[51] In 2022, Brendon suffered a heart attack and was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect

The Oscars left Michelle out of the "In Memoriam" section and some aren't happy about it.

Honestly, Amanda De Cadenet is such a piece of shit.

Michelle a TV actress, she will be remembered at the Emmys.

[quote]Michelle a TV actress, she will be remembered at the Emmys

Tony Todd should have been there. Shannen, while I love her, not so much.

Michelle is a bit of a toss-up and people have been included who did less. She had a much better film career than television. If not for Buffy, she would have clearly been film.

Agreed R235. Michelle was in some solid and/or commercial children's fare ("Harriet the Spy", "Inspector Gadget") and big studio teen films like "Ice Princess" and "17 Again", but she also in a handful of indie flicks and worked with Gregg Araki on "Mysterious Skin", which is a pretty highly-esteemed movie in which she had top billing. Coincidentally, Brady Corbet, one of her co-stars in that film, wrote/directed "The Brutalist" which had multiple Oscar noms.

I also just remembered she was in 2006's "Black Christmas." Made for 9 million, grossed 21 with Lacey Chabert, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and the legendary Andrea Martin.

R237 the Black Christmas remake was excoriated by critics but you're right, it did good box office. I unashamedly love that movie. It's sleazy and ridiculous, but if you pay attention, it is actually gorgeously filmed and it has more Christmas atmosphere than any movie I think I've ever seen. Every frame is stunning and colorful. Credit where credit's due. Michelle is good in it too, though she isn't given much to do... though that's to be expected. It is a slasher movies, after all.

Was she mentioned in Oscar in memorium

[quote] Michelle a TV actress, she will be remembered at the Emmys

[quote] Tony Todd should have been there. Shannen, while I love her, not so much.

I agree, Tony Todd should have been included. I liked Shannen and Michelle because I loved 90210, Charmed, and Buffy as a kid. But, I wasn't expecting them to be included in the Oscars In Memoriam.

Olivia Hussey was also omitted, which I find extremely strange.

Olivia, Mitzi Gaynor and Alain Delon are pretty iconic and should have been included

R242 I don't know why it's so difficult to get the Oscars In Memoriam segment right.

Every single damn year, they have obvious and glaring omissions.

It's almost like they do it to piss people off and get extra attention.

The Hollywood Reporter just did an article about this.

The people included are decided by a secret committee and because of the makeup of that group, someone like Michelle would have easily been skipped over.

And from another article referencing this one:

"Michael Schulman, an Academy Awards expert who wrote the book "Oscar Wars," told THR that the composition of the committee is also a reason why a recognizable actor like Shannen Doherty may have been passed over in favor of a less commonly known cinematographer. Being prominent specifically in film (not TV or another medium) is also a factor, albeit a very subjective one.

A source close to the Academy told THR that people who have won Oscars or a Governors Award have priority, then those who have won the Academy's Scientific and Technical Awards. Nominees for those awards are in the next tier for consideration."

So there is a hierarchy which is why you might see a random cinematographer and not someone like Olivia.

I say if an actor's death is reported on any of the network news programs (morning or evening), and they had a significant role in at least one movie, then they are prominent enough to be included in the Oscars In Memoriam segment. That standard would allow the Shannen Dohertys in and keep the Ivana Trumps out.

I suppose one factor is that the general public are far more familiar with actors than they are with those who work behind the scenes (except for mega-famous directors like Spielberg and Cameron). So people understandably complain that actors were left out, but realistically the editors would have had to cut someone whose behind-the-scenes contribution to cinema was much more significant in order to fit them in.

R246 I still think there's room for everyone.

They could've cut the fucking Quincy Jones number and had an extra five minutes to add more names to the memoriam.

Dead due to diabetes.

Link:

Sad news. I didn't realise until I read that article that liver transplants can cause diabetes.

R250 I actually didn't know this either. I did a little research and apparently it's true that liver transplants can lead to insulin resistance in some patients, which is essentially T2 diabetes. The unfortunate part is that the development of insulin resistance in transplant patients actually can cause the body to reject the transplant itself, so it's a lose-lose situation.

It doesn't say if Michelle had diabetes prior to the transplant or not, because it's also true that diabetes (especially T2) can cause liver problems that are similar to that of cirrhosis. In any event, it's fucking tragic. I wonder how this was discovered though given that her family rejected an autopsy?

Never mind, another article I read indicated it was determined through a toxicology report. They would have been able to determine her level of blood glucose from that. Based on the fact that her mother had seen her the night before and found her dead the following morning, I am guessing she went into a hyperglycemic coma in her sleep.

According to her friend she had primary sclerosing cholangitis. No substance abuse issues. A autoimmune liver disorder. Very, very sad.

I just watched Gossip Girl and she was hilarious as Georgina Sparks.