Date of Birth : Oct 11th 1985
Trachtenberg was born in New York City. Her father, Michael, is an AT&T field engineer, and her Russian-born mother, Lana, is a former actress turned puppeteer. Trachtenberg can speak Russian fluently. She is of Jewish heritage and celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah; her grandparents live in Israel. Trachtenberg was raised, along with older sister Irene, in Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn and attended P.S. 254 Elementary School and Bay Academy Junior High School.
She made her first television appearance in 1988 in a commercial for Wisk Detergent. She went on to feature in over 100 more commercials. She appeared in her first credited role as Nona F. Mecklenberg in The Adventures of Pete & Pete from 1994 until 1996. During the same period she played Lily Montgomery in All My Children. It was on All My Children that Trachtenberg first worked with future Buffy the Vampire Slayer co-star Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Trachtenberg’s film career began in 1996 with the lead role in Harriet the Spy. She then returned to television for Meego, for which she won a Young Artist Award. She returned to film in 1999 for Inspector Gadget, as the gadget-master’s niece, Penny. She also starred in the film Can’t Be Heaven.