Danielle Spencer, ‘What’s Happening!!’ child star, dead at 60: ‘Forever embraced’

Danielle Spencer, a child star best known for her role on the ABC sitcom “What’s Happening!!” in the 1970s, has reportedly died. She was 60.

Spencer died Aug. 11, according to CBS 6 and Forbes. The actress’s death followed a prolonged battle with cancer, CBS 6 reported. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014, though she later recovered. It’s not clear whether her death resulted from the same illness.

“I came into the room, there were about five doctors in there,” she said in an interview with CBS at the time, “So that scared the living daylights out of me. And they told me I had breast cancer.”

Following the diagnosis, she told the outlet she opted for a double mastectomy. She added that chemotherapy took longer because of a car accident years prior that left parts of her body paralyzed.

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On “What’s Happening!!” Spencer turned herself into a household name at just 11 years old, playing the sassy and quick-witted Dee Thomas. The show ran for three seasons in the mid-70s and later returned for a revival, “What’s Happening Now!!” which aired from 1985 to 1988.

Her time on the show made her the first black female child to star regularly in a television series, a distinction honored in an exhibit at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington.

Opting for a career off-screen after her sitcom run, she attended school to study veterinary science and became a vet in 1996, serving the Richmond, Virginia, area until her death.

Haywood Nelson, who appeared alongside Spencer in “What’s Happening!!” took to Instagram to mourn his former co-star.

“Brilliance! It comes in a great many forms,” Haywood wrote in an Aug. 12 post. “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,” he added. “Our Shero. Danielle is loved. She will be missed in this form and forever embraced.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Danielle Spencer, Dee from ‘What’s Hapenning!!’, dead at 60