Child star Danielle Spencer, who portrayed Dee Thomas on the 1970s comedy TV series “What’s Happening!!,” has died at 60, according to former co-star and friend Haywood Nelson.
In an Instagram post, Nelson said Spencer died Monday in Virginia. Family spokesperson Sandra Jones confirmed to the Associated Press that Spencer died after a yearslong battle with cancer.
Nelson told NBCLA Tuesday that he spoke with Spencer’s mother, who confirmed she had died. He described Spencer as a “brilliant person who loved animals” and moved on from acting to become a veterinarian. Nelson, who played Dwayne as Spencer’s “What’s Happening!!” co-star, told NBCLA he spoke to her about a week ago and marveled at her positivity and optimism.
“Dr. Dee, our brilliant, loving, positive, pragmatic warrior, without fail, has finally found her release from the clutches of this world and a body,” Nelson said in his Instagram post. “We celebrate Danielle Spencer and her contributions as we regret to inform her departure and transition from a long battle with cancer.”
Spencer was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014 and underwent emergency surgery for brain bleed in 2018.
She played Dee Thomas, a sassy young member of the Thomas family on “What’s Happening!!,” which was broadcast on ABC from 1976 to 1979. She reprised the role in “What’s Happening Now!!” in the 1980s.
Born in New Jersey, Spencer was seriously injured in a major car crash in 1976 that killed her stepfather, actor Tim Pelt.
She attended the University of California, Davis and pursued a degree in medicine. She then pursued her life-long passion for helping animals, attending Tuskegee University Veterinary School in Alabama and becoming a veterinarian in 1996.
