{"id":1956167,"date":"2025-08-12T16:12:06","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T16:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=1956167"},"modified":"2025-08-12T16:12:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T16:12:06","slug":"danielle-spencer-dee-from-whats-happening-dead-at-60","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/danielle-spencer-dee-from-whats-happening-dead-at-60\/","title":{"rendered":"Danielle Spencer, Dee From What\u2019s Happening!!, Dead at 60"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"relative mb-6 aisummary_shadowPulse__HDPrM\">\n<div class=\"box-content rounded-[14px] bg-gradient-to-b from-[#c938e3] to-[#4941fb] p-0.5\" style=\"max-height:5rem\">\n<div class=\"rounded-xl bg-[#fcfbfb] dark:bg-inkwell px-5\">\n<div class=\"relative flex justify-between py-5 text-base font-semibold\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\"><button aria-label=\"Visually show the key takeways description\" class=\"group z-2\" data-ylk=\"elm:card;itc:1;sec:ai-summary;slk:key-takeaways;\"><span class=\"group relative text-left transition-all duration-1000 ease-in-out\"><svg class=\"absolute size-0\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><lineargradient id=\"svg-ai-icon-gradient\" x1=\"12.5\" x2=\"12.5\" y1=\"2.5\" y2=\"21.5\" gradientunits=\"userSpaceOnUse\"><stop stop-color=\"#3941FD\"\/><stop offset=\"1\" stop-color=\"#D136E0\"\/><\/lineargradient><\/svg><svg viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"mr-1\" fill=\"url(#svg-ai-icon-gradient)\" height=\"24\" width=\"24\"><path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M21.5 6.5a6.77 6.77 0 0 1-4-4 6.77 6.77 0 0 1-4 4 6.77 6.77 0 0 1 4 4 6.77 6.77 0 0 1 4-4M3.5 14A12.69 12.69 0 0 0 11 6.5a12.69 12.69 0 0 0 7.5 7.5 12.69 12.69 0 0 0-7.5 7.5A12.7 12.7 0 0 0 3.5 14m7.5 3.638A14.5 14.5 0 0 0 7.362 14 14.5 14.5 0 0 0 11 10.362 14.5 14.5 0 0 0 14.638 14 14.5 14.5 0 0 0 11 17.638\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"sr-only !absolute !w-[310px] max-w-[80vw] translate-y-full rounded-lg bg-white text-sm font-normal opacity-0 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity ease-in-out group-hover:not-sr-only group-hover:block group-hover:p-4 group-hover:opacity-100 group-hover:delay-300 group-focus-visible:not-sr-only group-focus-visible:block group-focus-visible:p-4 group-focus-visible:opacity-100 dark:border dark:border-charcoal dark:bg-inkwell dark:shadow-dark-elevation-3\" id=\"_R_apckr8lb2mav5ubsddb_\" style=\"bottom:-2px\">Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what&#8217;s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.<\/span><\/span><\/button><span class=\"aisummary_textShimmer__8Tdxq\">Generate Key Takeaways<\/span><\/div>\n<p><button aria-label=\"Expand Key Takeaways\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"_R_1ckr8lb2mav5ubsddbH1_\" class=\"stretched-box text-batcave hover:text-grape-jelly focus:text-grape-jelly dark:text-bob dark:hover:text-thanos dark:focus:text-thanos\" id=\"_R_1ckr8lb2mav5ubsddb_\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:ai-summary;slk:key-takeaways;\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"none\" viewbox=\"0 0 12 13\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fill-current\" height=\"24\" width=\"24\"><path d=\"M6 6.897 3.547 4.443a.5.5 0 0 0-.699.002.493.493 0 0 0-.001.699L6 8.298l3.155-3.155a.497.497 0 0 0-.001-.7.493.493 0 0 0-.7 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"\" data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Danielle Spencer, the actress who played Raj\u2019s sarcastic little sister Deadra \u201cDee\u201d Thomas\u00a0on <em>What\u2019s Happening!!<\/em>, died Monday. She was 60 years old.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The news was posted by her former <em>What\u2019s Happening!!<\/em> co-star Haywood Nelson on <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/haywoodnelsonofficial\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Instagram;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Instagram<\/a> Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>More from TVLine<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cDr. Dee, our brilliant, loving, positive, pragmatic warrior, without fail, has finally found her release from the clutches of this world and a body,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWe celebrate Danielle Spencer and her contributions as we regret to inform her departure and transition from a long battle with cancer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cWe have lost a daughter, sister, family member, <em>What\u2019s Happening<\/em> 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Spencer played Dee, the precocious and meddling younger sister on\u00a0<em>What\u2019s Happening!!<\/em>, for three seasons beginning in 1976. Loosely based on the 1975 film\u00a0<em>Cooley High<\/em>, the series started out as a summer replacement on ABC. After it ended, a spinoff of the show titled\u00a0<em>What\u2019s Happening Now!!<\/em>\u00a0was ordered, running from 1985 to 1988. Spencer reprised her role, recurring as a college-aged Dee for 16 episodes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In 1996, she pivoted from acting and became a veterinarian, and though she considered herself to be semi-retired from the business, she still occasionally acted. Her other TV credits include <em>The Brady Bunch Hour <\/em>and <em>Days of Our Lives<\/em>. She also played a vet in the 1997 James L. Brooks movie <em>As Good As It Gets<\/em>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>TV Stars Who Died in 2025<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">TV Stars We Lost in 2025<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/tvline.com\/gallery\/tv-stars-died-2025-celebrity-deaths\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:View Gallery56 Images;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\"><span>View Gallery<span>56 Images<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>Best of TVLine<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Sign up for <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/cloud.email.tvline.com\/signup\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:TVLine's Newsletter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">TVLine&#8217;s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/31XsHSx\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Facebook;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Facebook<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/2TkcoeG\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Twitter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Twitter<\/a>, and <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/2TntOHq\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Instagram;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what&#8217;s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.Generate Key Takeaways Danielle Spencer, the actress who played Raj\u2019s sarcastic little sister Deadra \u201cDee\u201d Thomas\u00a0on What\u2019s Happening!!, died Monday. She was 60 years old. The news [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1956168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[343316,343318,343317,343319],"class_list":["post-1956167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-danielle-spencer","tag-dee","tag-haywood-nelson","tag-whats-happening-cast"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Danielle-Spencer-Dee-From-Whats-Happening-Dead-at-60.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1956167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1956167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1956167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1956168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1956167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1956167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1956167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}