Ranked No. 1 in FHM magazine's 100 Sexiest Women in the World in 1999 and No. 3 in 2000, as well as one of People's 50 Most Beautiful People in 1998 and South Africa's People 9th Most Beautiful Person in the World in 2002, Sarah downplayed her beauty in interviews.
"I think of myself as smart before I would ever think of myself as beautiful. It's annoying because sometimes you meet people and they think, 'Look! Another cute little blond actress.' That's not who I am," she told the website www.culture.com in 2001.
"I mean, I'm re-reading all the major Greek tragedies in my spare time. To me, being sexy is being confident. It's important to know that you don't have to have big silicone breasts falling out and a thigh-high skirt."
Born in New York City, Sarah was 7 when her parents divorced after her father walked out on the family. She was raised by her mother and remained estranged from her father until he died in 2001.
Classic TV Beauties 1990s Countdown
Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
Playing the Slayer who was destined to protect her community from supernatural occurrences and demons, Sarah launched her career and developed her character into a huge female cultural icon.
Against all odds, “Buffy” became a phenom. The show was a mid-season replacement on a lower-tiered network (The WB) based on a failed movie. Buffy was such an iconic figure that in 2010 Entertainment Weekly rated her No. 3 on its list of the 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years.
“For eight years I had the pleasure of portraying a character that was the very definition of a powerful woman,” Sarah said in a 2003 article in Entertainment Weekly. “In my opinion, one of the greatest examples in the history of entertainment.”
“If it wasn't for the outpouring of fans and critics supporting us, we would have been canceled after four episodes,” Sarah said in a 2011 interview with www.collider.com.
Sarah, who appeared in all 144 episodes, said that although “Buffy” didn't garner large ratings, the show had buzz.
“Our show never had top 10 numbers, but everyone talked about it,” she said. “This is a cool show, the show the [Emmy] voters don't get.”
As for the Emmy voters, “[An Emmy] doesn't mean nearly as much to me as my Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Female Butt Kicker.”
“I think the heart of the show lies in the humor of the drama,” Sarah said in the Entertainment Weekly interview. “One thing about the show was it was never categorized. It was drama, comedy, action, horror, all of those things combined."
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At age 4, Sarah was spotted in a Manhattan restaurant by an agent, and two weeks later she auditioned for a TV film "An Invasion of Privacy." She won the role, impressing those on the set by reading her lines, as well as the lines of the film's star, Valerie Harper.
She appeared in more than 100 commercials, including a controversial Burger King ad which resulted in a lawsuit filed by McDonald's against Sarah and Burger King.
Sarah graduated from the prestigious Fiorello LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts in 1995.
“Everybody there had a talent and everyone was respected,” she told The New York Times in 1997. “I thank God for that school. That school was my lifeline.”
“After “Buffy” concluded, Sarah starred in several movies, most notably the horror film “The Grudge” and its sequel, “The Grudge 2,” and in “The Air I Breathe.” Although the latter film was panned, Sarah received praise for her performance. “Her character has the deepest emotional arc, and she hits all the right notes,” wrote a critic in DVD Talk Review.
In 2011, Sarah returned to prime-time TV as an executive producer as well as the star of “Ringer,” an action thriller series on The CW about twin sisters Bridget and Siobhan. Sarah plays both parts.
“What I love about the show is the duality of all of the characters and the idea that we all have a good side and a bad side,” she said in a 2011 interview with www.collider.com. “I'm not necessarily more like either one of the characters because, in their motivations, they both feel incredibly justified, but Siobhan has the better wardrobe.”
By the time she was a teenager she'd appeared in TV shows such as "Spenser: For Hire" and "Swans Crossing," and she starred as a young Jacqueline Bouvier in the TV mini-series "A Woman Named Jackie."
At 16 Sarah became a soap actress, cast as Kendall Hart in “All My Children.” She won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Younger Leading Actress in a Drama Series.
In 1997, Sarah launched her film career, starring in the slasher “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” playing aspiring actress Helen Shivers.
Sarah originally landed the role of shallow cheerleader Cordelia Chase for “Buffy” because the producers felt she was better suited for that part, but she pursued the lead role until she finally beat out fellow cast mates Charisma Carpenter, Julie Benz, and Mercedes McNab, among others.
Sarah received a Golden Globe nomination and won six Teen Choice awards for her work on “Buffy,” and the show was ranked on several “best of” lists, including being rated No. 41 on TV Guide's List of 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, and was listed on Time magazine's 100 Best TV Shows of All Time.
Sarah and creator/executive producer Joss Whedon decided to end the series after the seventh season in 2003. Sarah explained why she was ending Buffy in the EW interview.
“You always worry about being the show that's been on too long, especially when you're a cult hit,” she said. “Last year, a lot of people were ready to tear us down. [So when] we started to have such a strong year this year, I thought, 'This is how I want to go out – on top, at our best.'”
And personally, she was longing to move on with other projects.
“I was 18 when I started the show; I'm 26,” she said. “I'm married. I never see my husband. This has been the longest span of my life in one place.
“You want to pick up and go, try other things, live in different places. It feels right, and you have to listen to that.”
Sarah has attributed her acting success to clean living and hard work.
“I have few vices to speak of,” she said. “I don't drink, I don't smoke and I've never done any drugs. I avoid fried food and have even quit coffee. My work provides all the caffeine I need.”
Work consumes so much of her energy so she doesn't have time for anything else.
“Most of the time I am so grateful to have work and it's more like, 'Oh my God! Do you believe I'm getting the chance to do what I'm doing.' I love getting up in the morning and having a place to do, and I like what I do.”
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