Danielle Spencer, best known for her role as Dee Thomas on the ABC sitcom What’s Happening!!, has died after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 60.
Spencer passed away on August 11, at a hospital in Richmond, Virginia.
Spencer’s What’s Happening!! co-star Haywood Nelson (pictured right) confirmed her death to TMZ, saying, “She suffered for a very long time but did it with a great deal of courage.”
Spencer was diagnosed with breast cancer in September 2014. She told Black America Web that her diagnosis took her by surprise. “With everything that I’ve been through with the spinal cord injury, I said I know God is not going to give me another affliction,” she said.
Although her diagnosis took her by surprise, Spencer said cancer runs in her family.
“I have a lot of help and support around me,” she said. Spencer’s treatment options included a double mastectomy.
“I’m trying to get as many opinions as possible but it does look like that is what I’m going to do,” she told Black America Web. “Hopefully after that there won’t be any chemotherapy or radiation involved.”
In 2018, she underwent emergency surgery to relieve bleeding on her brain.
Spencer was born in Trenton, New Jersey. The family relocated to the Bronx, New York, where she began taking acting classes and became an actress at age 8.
In 1976, Spencer auditioned for and won the role of Ernest Thomas’ younger sister Dee Thomas on the show What’s Happening!!, which was loosely based on the movie Cooley High.
Spencer is pictured with What’s Happening!! co-stars Ernest Thomas (left) and Haywood Nelson.
After the cancellation of What’s Happening!! in 1979, Spencer and her mother relocated to the Ivory Coast. When she returned, she attended the University of California-Davis to earn a degree in veterinary medicine.
Spencer worked as a veterinarian in Richmond, Virginia, where she moved from California to be closer to family following her diagnosis in 2014.
Watch Danielle Spencer in an episode of What’s Happening!! below.
