Danielle Spencer, known as Dee in 'What's Happening!!', dies aged 60

Highlights:

• Danielle Spencer, best known for playing Dee Thomas in What’s Happening!!, has died aged 60
  
• Cause of death confirmed as gastric cancer and cardiac arrest
  
• Career spanned acting and veterinary medicine
  
• Survived a 1977 car crash and later battled breast cancer and other health challenges
  

Danielle Spencer, the former child actress who starred as Dee Thomas in the 1970s US sitcom What’s Happening!!, has died aged 60. She passed away on 11 August in Richmond, Virginia, from gastric cancer and cardiac arrest, her family confirmed.

Career on screen

Spencer appeared in 65 episodes of What’s Happening!! between 1976 and 1979, becoming known for her quick wit and catchphrase, “Ooooh, I’m gonna tell Mama!” She later reprised the role in 16 episodes of the sequel series What’s Happening Now! from 1985 to 1988. In 1997, she was cast by James L. Brooks as a veterinarian in As Good as It Gets.

Personal life and veterinary career

After the original sitcom ended, Spencer studied at UC Davis and UCLA before earning her doctorate in veterinary medicine from Tuskegee University in 1993. She worked as a veterinarian in Los Angeles for two decades, and after moving to Richmond in 2014, hosted a regular pet care segment for CBS affiliate WTVR-TV.

Health struggles and resilience

Spencer’s life was marked by resilience through personal and health challenges. In 1977, she survived a Malibu car crash that killed her stepfather, Tim Pelt, and left her in intensive care for weeks. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014 and underwent a double mastectomy, and in 2018 she had emergency surgery for bleeding on the brain.

Tributes and legacy

Her brother, jazz musician Jeremy Pelt, described her as “a very loving spirit who fought courageously until the very end.” He also wrote on Instagram: “Many of you knew her as ‘Dee,’ but she was more than a child actress… she was MY sister and protector.” In 2014, Spencer was inducted into the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. She is survived by her mother, Cheryl Pelt, and her brother.