Danielle Spencer — forever remembered as wisecracking little sister “Dee Thomas” on ABC’s 1970s sitcom What’s Happening!! — has passed away at 60. According to TMZ, she died Monday night in a Richmond, Virginia hospital from complications related to cancer, with her mother, Cheryl, and her brother, jazz musician Jeremy Pelt, at her side.
TMZ

Her longtime friend and former co-star, Haywood Nelson (who played “Dwayne”), told TMZ he received the heartbreaking call while he was in Dallas. He said the two had spoken by phone just two weeks earlier and that she sounded upbeat. Nelson also shared a tribute on Instagram, reflecting that her fight had taken a heavy toll and that she had “finally found her release from the clutches of this world and a body.”

Spencer became a household name as part of the original What’s Happening!! cast, which ran from 1976 to 1979. She later reprised her beloved role in the ’80s sequel What’s Happening Now!! before stepping away from Hollywood in the 1990s to pursue a new calling as a veterinarian — a career path that earned her the affectionate nickname “Dr. Dee” among fans and friends.

Nelson added that Spencer had previously been involved in a car accident and was using a wheelchair in the period leading up to her passing. Despite the setbacks, he emphasized that he always saw her as a little sister; their final conversation, he said, captured her enduring positivity even while she faced mounting health challenges.

Spencer’s legacy endures on multiple fronts: as a gifted child star who helped make What’s Happening!! a touchstone of Black television in the late ’70s; as a returning favorite in What’s Happening Now!!; and as a caregiver who devoted her later life to animals. Friends, colleagues, and fans are remembering not only Dee’s razor-sharp comebacks at the Thomas family kitchen table, but also the compassion and grit Spencer displayed off-screen. Nelson’s remembrance underscored that wide impact — celebrating her contributions while acknowledging the difficult health battle she waged.

As news of her death spreads, tributes are highlighting the breadth of Spencer’s journey — from child star to healer — and the joy she brought to generations who grew up with What’s Happening!!. She is mourned by loved ones and by viewers who felt like they knew “Dee” personally. Danielle Spencer was 60. May this queen rest in eternal peace, after a job well done here on earth.