{"id":1958006,"date":"2025-08-13T14:31:56","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T14:31:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=1958006"},"modified":"2025-08-13T14:31:56","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T14:31:56","slug":"whats-happening-star-dies-at-60","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/whats-happening-star-dies-at-60\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;What&#8217;s Happening!!&#8217; star dies at 60"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<div id=\"videoWrap\" class=\"spacer-large videoWrap\" style=\"position:relative\">\n<div id=\"uwVideoPlaceholder\" slot=\"placeholder\" style=\"z-index:19;width:100%;padding-bottom:56.25%;position:relative\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;right:0;bottom:0;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:2\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2025\/08\/12\/SFTW\/85630807007-57132360.jpg?crop=1966,1106,x0,y306\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"vidplaybtn\" style=\"display:-moz-box;display:-ms-flexbox;display:-webkit-flex;display:flex;background-color:rgba(0,0,0,.4);border:2px solid #fff;border-radius:80px;cursor:pointer;height:80px;width:80px;position:absolute;top:50%;left:50%;transform:translate(-50%,-50%);z-index:10\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"vidplayicon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/appservices\/universal-web\/universal\/icons\/icon-play-alt-white.svg\" alt=\"play\" style=\"height:40px;margin:auto 18px auto 27px;width:40px\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div slot=\"videoDetails\" id=\"videoDetails\" class=\"videoDetails\" style=\"padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:8px\">\n<div id=\"videoDetailsContainer\" class=\"videoDetailsContainer\" hidden=\"\">\n<p>&#8216;What&#8217;s Happening&#8217; star and Richmond veterinarian Dr. Danielle Spencer dies at 60<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Danielle Spencer, who played &#8220;Dee&#8221; on &#8220;What&#8217;s Happening&#8221; before becoming a Richmond veterinarian, has died at 60 after battling breast cancer since 2014. This video report is from 2016.<\/p>\n<p>Scripps News &#8211; WTVR Richmond<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Danielle Spencer, a child star best known for her role on the ABC <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/tv\/2023\/11\/22\/what-was-first-tv-sitcom\/71508766007\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/tv\/2023\/11\/22\/what-was-first-tv-sitcom\/71508766007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sitcom<\/a>\u00a0&#8220;What&#8217;s Happening!!&#8221; in the 1970s, has reportedly died. She was 60.<\/p>\n<p>Spencer died Aug. 11, according to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wtvr.com\/news\/local-news\/whats-happening-star-and-richmond-veterinarian-dr-danielle-spencer-dies-at-60\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.wtvr.com\/news\/local-news\/whats-happening-star-and-richmond-veterinarian-dr-danielle-spencer-dies-at-60\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CBS 6<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/marcberman1\/2025\/08\/12\/danielle-spencer-child-star-of-whats-happening-dies-at-60\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/marcberman1\/2025\/08\/12\/danielle-spencer-child-star-of-whats-happening-dies-at-60\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Forbes.<\/a> The actress&#8217;s death followed a prolonged battle with cancer, CBS 6 reported. She was first diagnosed with <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/celebrities\/2024\/06\/12\/linda-perry-double-mastectomy-breast-cancer\/74073095007\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/celebrities\/2024\/06\/12\/linda-perry-double-mastectomy-breast-cancer\/74073095007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">breast cancer<\/a> in 2014, though she later recovered. It&#8217;s not clear whether her death resulted from the same illness.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I came into the room, there were about five doctors in there,&#8221; she said in an interview with CBS at the time, &#8220;So that scared the living daylights out of me. And they told me I had breast cancer.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Following the diagnosis, she told the outlet she <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/celebrities\/2024\/03\/13\/olivia-munn-breast-cancer-diagnosis-double-mastectomy-surgery\/72956746007\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/celebrities\/2024\/03\/13\/olivia-munn-breast-cancer-diagnosis-double-mastectomy-surgery\/72956746007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">opted for a double mastectomy<\/a>. She added that chemotherapy took longer because of a car accident years prior that left parts of her body paralyzed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"related-link\"><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\"><strong style=\"margin-right:3px\">Olivia Munn reveals breast cancer <\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/celebrities\/2024\/03\/13\/olivia-munn-breast-cancer-diagnosis-double-mastectomy-surgery\/72956746007\/\" rel=\"noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">diagnosis, underwent double mastectomy<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>On &#8220;What&#8217;s Happening!!&#8221; 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, &#8220;What\u2019s Happening Now!!&#8221; which aired from 1985 to 1988.<\/p>\n<p>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 <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/picture-gallery\/news\/politics\/2025\/04\/12\/national-museum-african-american-history-culture\/83067326007\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/picture-gallery\/news\/politics\/2025\/04\/12\/national-museum-african-american-history-culture\/83067326007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">National Museum of African American History and Culture<\/a> in Washington.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Haywood Nelson, who appeared alongside Spencer in &#8220;What&#8217;s Happening!!&#8221; took to Instagram to mourn his former co-star.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Brilliance! It comes in a great many forms,&#8221; Haywood wrote in <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/haywoodnelsonofficial\/p\/DNQckc6xVEj\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/haywoodnelsonofficial\/p\/DNQckc6xVEj\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">an Aug. 12 post. <\/a>&#8220;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.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We have lost a daughter, sister, family member, &#8216;What\u2019s Happening&#8217; cast member, veterinarian animal rights proponent and healer, and cancer heroine,&#8221; he added. &#8220;Our Shero. Danielle is loved. She will be missed in this form and forever embraced.&#8221;<\/p>\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.usatoday.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8216;What&#8217;s Happening&#8217; star and Richmond veterinarian Dr. Danielle Spencer dies at 60 Dr. Danielle Spencer, who played &#8220;Dee&#8221; on &#8220;What&#8217;s Happening&#8221; before becoming a Richmond veterinarian, has died at 60 after battling breast cancer since 2014. This video report is from 2016. Scripps News &#8211; WTVR Richmond Danielle Spencer, a child star best known for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1958007,"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":[25173],"tags":[39915,22220,22405,244917,21751,239390,244916,304719,305429,6297,21741,22240,239389,21739,298114,211924,21738,30600,22542,305412,239343,239453,29945,310540,310542,24431,22476,305423,21913,239471,239344],"class_list":["post-1958006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-affiliate","tag-arts","tag-cbs","tag-cbs-corp","tag-celebrities","tag-celebrities-u0026-entertainment-news","tag-corp","tag-death","tag-death-u0026-tragedy","tag-eamotion","tag-entertainment","tag-life","tag-life-now","tag-local","tag-local-affiliate-arts-u0026-entertainment","tag-neutral","tag-news","tag-now","tag-obituary","tag-optimized","tag-overall","tag-overall-neutral","tag-programs","tag-seo","tag-seo-team-optimized","tag-shows","tag-team","tag-tragedy","tag-tv","tag-tv-shows-u0026-programs","tag-u0026"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Whats-Happening-star-dies-at-60.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1958006","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=1958006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1958006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1958007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1958006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1958006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1958006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}