Danielle Spencer, beloved child star from ‘What’s Happening!!’, dead at 60. Cause of death revealed

Danielle Spencer, who played the precocious youngster Dee Thomas on the 1970s ABC sitcom What’s Happening!!, has died. She was 60, as per US media reports.

Danielle Spencer’s death was announced by her co-star Haywood Nelson on Tuesday. “Brilliance! It comes in a great many forms. We all have them, and we all have this family’s — Dr. Danielle Spencer (June 24, 1965 – August 11, 2025),” Nelson, 65, wrote, sharing the heartbreaking news.

“Dr. Dee, our brilliant, loving, positive, pragmatic warrior, without fail, has finally found her release from the clutches of this world and a body,” the actor continued. “We celebrate Danielle Spencer and her contributions as we regret to inform her departure and transition from a long battle with cancer.”


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Nelson’s statement added, “We have lost a daughter, sister, family member, ‘What’s Happening’ cast member, veterinarian animal rights proponent and healer, and cancer heroine. Our Shero.”

“Danielle is loved. She will be missed in this form and forever embraced,” Nelson said in conclusion.

Haywood Nelson told The Hollywood Reporter that Danielle Spencer died on Monday in a hospital in Richmond, Virginia. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy in 2014 and in 2018 underwent emergency surgery to relieve bleeding on her brain. A GoFundMe page was set up to help her pay for her medical expenses.

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Who was Danielle Spencer?

Danielle Spencer was born in New York in 1965 and started acting classes aged eight and was cast in What’s Happening!! three years later, according to Metro. Spencer portrayed Dee Thomas, the quick-witted younger sister in the Thomas family, on ABC’s “What’s Happening!!” which ran from 1976 to 1979. The sitcom was loosely inspired by the 1975 film Cooley High.

However, a year after the show began, the actress was involved in a shocking accident. During the production of the season 2 episode Trial and Error in September 1977, Spencer and her stepfather Tim Pelt were involved in a severe car accident that left her in a coma for three weeks and caused his death.

Danielle Spencer's stepfather fatal injuries were caused by trying to protect Spencer during the crash. She had no memories of the accident and spent six months recovering and undergoing physical therapy.

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