Danielle Spencer, beloved for her role as Dee Thomas on the hit 1970s sitcom What’s Happening!!, has died at age 60. Spencer’s death was confirmed by former co-star Haywood Nelson, who praised her enduring strength and spirit.
What to Know:
- Spencer died on August 11 after a long battle with cancer; however, the cause of death has not been publicly announced.
- She rose to fame playing Dee Thomas from 1976 to 1979 and returned for What’s Happening Now!! in the 1980s.
- In 1977, she survived a car crash that killed her stepfather and left her in a coma for three weeks.
- She earned a veterinary medicine degree from Tuskegee University in 1993 and practiced for decades.
- Spencer was inducted into the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture—the first child star to receive the honor.
- She faced multiple health challenges, including spinal stenosis, breast cancer, and a brain bleed linked to her earlier accident.
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Co-star confirms death of Danielle Spencer
“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),” Haywood Nelson, one of Spencer’s co-stars, said in an Instagram post today.
“Dr. Dee, our brilliant, loving, positive, pragmatic warrior, without fail, has finally found her release from the clutches of this world and a body,” he added. “We celebrate Danielle Spencer and her contributions as we regret to inform her departure and transition from a long battle with cancer.”
“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.”
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