Danielle Spencer dies after cancer battle: ‘What’s Happening!!’ star was 60
Spencer was known for her role as Dee Thomas in the ABC sitcom “What’s Happening!!” and her catch phrase, “Ooooh, I’m gonna tell Mama!”
WASHINGTON — Danielle Spencer, known for her role as Dee Thomas in the ABC sitcom “What’s Happening!!,” has died. She was 60.
Spencer died Monday, according to her co-star Haywood Nelson.
“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 wrote on Instagram. “Dr. Dee, our brilliant, loving, positive, pragmatic warrior, without fail, has finally found her release from the clutches of this world and a body. 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,” Nelson added.
Spencer had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014 and underwent a double mastectomy. Four years later, she had an emergency surgery to relieve bleeding from her brain.
The former child actress starred as Dee Thomas, the stereotypical annoying little sister, in the 1970s ABC sitcom “What’s Happening!!.” She became known for her catch phrase, “Ooooh, I’m gonna tell Mama!”
In 1977, Spencer and her stepfather, actor Tim Pelt, were involved in a severe accident that left the young star in intensive care for weeks. Pelt was killed in the accident.
“I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye to my stepfather, Daddy Tim, whom I loved and who taught me show business as a young child in New York,” Spencer wrote in her 2010 memoir, Through the Fire … Journal of a Child Star, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
After her time on “What’s Happening!!,” the actress went on to become a veterinarian for 20 years.
Spencer suffered paralysis as a result of the car accident years later, eventually needing surgery and physical therapy to be able to walk with crutches.
In 2014, Spencer was inducted into the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. According to a GoFundMe page set up to help cover medical expenses for the actress in 2018, Spencer has the distinction of being the first Black female child to star regularly in a television series.