{"id":1959294,"date":"2025-08-14T03:15:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T03:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=1959294"},"modified":"2025-08-14T03:15:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T03:15:21","slug":"whats-happening-star-danielle-spencer-dies-at-60","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/whats-happening-star-danielle-spencer-dies-at-60\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;What&#8217;s Happening!!&#8217; Star Danielle Spencer Dies At 60"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<div class=\"cli cli-embed cli-embed--full-width js-no-inject\">\n<div class=\"js-react-hydrator\" data-component-name=\"YouTube\" data-component-id=\"2249\" data-component-props=\"{&quot;itemType&quot;:&quot;video&quot;,&quot;index&quot;:0,&quot;contentIndexByType&quot;:1,&quot;contentListType&quot;:&quot;embed&quot;,&quot;code&quot;:&quot;&lt;div style=\\&quot;left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;\\&quot;&gt;&lt;iframe src=\\&quot;https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0u1vSlZLywQ?rel=0&amp;enablejsapi=1\\&quot; style=\\&quot;top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;\\&quot; allowfullscreen scrolling=\\&quot;no\\&quot; allow=\\&quot;accelerometer *; clipboard-write *; encrypted-media *; gyroscope *; picture-in-picture *; web-share *;\\&quot; id=\\&quot;youtube-embed-0u1vSlZLywQ-6281\\&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&lt;\/div&gt;&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;video&quot;,&quot;meta&quot;:{&quot;author&quot;:&quot;Entertainment Tonight&quot;,&quot;author_url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCdtXPiqI2cLorKaPrfpKc4g&quot;,&quot;cache_age&quot;:86400,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;Danielle Spencer, best known as Dee on 'What's Happening!!,' has died at the age of 60. Her co-star, Haywood Nelson, broke the news on Instagram. Dee left Hollywood behind to become a veterinarian in Virginia. She was also a breast cancer survivor.&quot;,&quot;options&quot;:{&quot;_cc_load_policy&quot;:{&quot;label&quot;:&quot;Closed captions&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:false},&quot;_end&quot;:{&quot;label&quot;:&quot;End on&quot;,&quot;placeholder&quot;:&quot;ex.: 11, 1m10s&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;&quot;},&quot;_start&quot;:{&quot;label&quot;:&quot;Start from&quot;,&quot;placeholder&quot;:&quot;ex.: 11, 1m10s&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;&quot;}},&quot;provider_name&quot;:&quot;YouTube&quot;,&quot;thumbnail_height&quot;:720,&quot;thumbnail_url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/0u1vSlZLywQ\/maxresdefault.jpg&quot;,&quot;thumbnail_width&quot;:1280,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Danielle Spencer, What's Happening!!'s Dee, Dead at 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Happening!!&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;what-happening&quot;,&quot;links&quot;:{&quot;relativeLink&quot;:&quot;topic\/what-happening&quot;,&quot;permalink&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/topic\/what-happening&quot;,&quot;mobileWebLink&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/topic\/what-happening&quot;},&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/topic\/what-happening&quot;},{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Sandra Jones&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;sandra-jones&quot;,&quot;links&quot;:{&quot;relativeLink&quot;:&quot;topic\/sandra-jones&quot;,&quot;permalink&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/topic\/sandra-jones&quot;,&quot;mobileWebLink&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/topic\/sandra-jones&quot;},&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/topic\/sandra-jones&quot;},{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Dwayne Nelson&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;dwayne-nelson&quot;,&quot;links&quot;:{&quot;relativeLink&quot;:&quot;topic\/dwayne-nelson&quot;,&quot;permalink&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/topic\/dwayne-nelson&quot;,&quot;mobileWebLink&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/topic\/dwayne-nelson&quot;},&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/topic\/dwayne-nelson&quot;},{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Dee Thomas&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;dee-thomas&quot;,&quot;links&quot;:{&quot;relativeLink&quot;:&quot;topic\/dee-thomas&quot;,&quot;permalink&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/topic\/dee-thomas&quot;,&quot;mobileWebLink&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/topic\/dee-thomas&quot;},&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/topic\/dee-thomas&quot;}],&quot;isLiveblogLive&quot;:null,&quot;isLiveblog&quot;:false,&quot;cetUnit&quot;:&quot;buzz_body&quot;,&quot;enableIncontentPlayer&quot;:false,&quot;bodyAds&quot;:[&quot;&lt;div id=\\&quot;ad-inline-1\\&quot; class=\\&quot;ad-entry_paragraph_1 ad-spot--gam ad-spot--gam-inline-1\\&quot;&gt;&lt;\/div&gt;\\r\\n&lt;script type=\\&quot;text\/javascript\\&quot;&gt;\\r\\n  HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\\r\\n\\t\\treturn HPGam.render(\\&quot;inline-1\\&quot;, \\&quot;entry_paragraph_1\\&quot;, false, false);\\r\\n  });\\r\\n&lt;\/script&gt;\\r\\n&quot;,&quot;&lt;div id=\\&quot;ad-inline-2\\&quot; class=\\&quot;ad-entry_paragraph_3 ad-spot--gam ad-spot--gam-inline-2\\&quot;&gt;&lt;\/div&gt;\\r\\n&lt;script type=\\&quot;text\/javascript\\&quot;&gt;\\r\\n  HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\\r\\n\\t\\treturn HPGam.render(\\&quot;inline-2\\&quot;, \\&quot;entry_paragraph_3\\&quot;, false, false);\\r\\n  });\\r\\n&lt;\/script&gt;\\r\\n&quot;,&quot;&lt;div id=\\&quot;ad-inline-infinite\\&quot; class=\\&quot;ad-repeating_dynamic_display ad-spot--gam ad-spot--gam-inline-infinite\\&quot;&gt;&lt;\/div&gt;\\r\\n&lt;script type=\\&quot;text\/javascript\\&quot;&gt;\\r\\n  HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\\r\\n\\t\\treturn HPGam.render(\\&quot;inline-infinite\\&quot;, \\&quot;repeating_dynamic_display\\&quot;, false, false);\\r\\n  });\\r\\n&lt;\/script&gt;\\r\\n&quot;],&quot;adCount&quot;:0,&quot;midArticleAdPartner&quot;:null},&quot;isCollectionEmbed&quot;:false}\">\n<div class=\"cli-embed__embed-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Danielle Spencer, What&#039;s Happening!!&#039;s Dee, Dead at 60\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0u1vSlZLywQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/television-programs-arts-and-entertainment-0f146e9747854c8094002fae40df05d5\" role=\"link\" class=\" js-entry-link cet-external-link\" data-vars-item-name=\"Danielle Spencer,\" data-vars-item-type=\"text\" data-vars-unit-name=\"689cc9fee4b03bdc4750506e\" data-vars-unit-type=\"buzz_body\" data-vars-target-content-id=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/television-programs-arts-and-entertainment-0f146e9747854c8094002fae40df05d5\" data-vars-target-content-type=\"url\" data-vars-type=\"web_external_link\" data-vars-subunit-name=\"article_body\" data-vars-subunit-type=\"component\" data-vars-position-in-subunit=\"0\">Danielle Spencer,<\/a> who played the wisecracking and tattling little sister Dee Thomas on the 1970s sitcom \u201cWhat\u2019s Happening!!\u201d has died at 60.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>Spencer, who became a veterinarian later in life, died Monday at a hospital in Richmond, Virginia, after a yearslong battle with cancer, family spokesperson Sandra Jones said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>As Dee, Spencer was the smarter, more serious younger sister who offered a steady stream of deadpan roasts of big brother Roger \u201cRaj\u201d Thomas and his friends Dwayne Nelson and Freddie \u201cRerun\u201d Stubbs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>\u201cOoh, I\u2019m gonna tell mama,\u201d would become Dee\u2019s catchphrase.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>The show, set in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts and among the first on television to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/entertainment-los-angeles-sitcoms-arts-and-entertainment-race-and-ethnicity-29485334613f905bb8274ad7225e2e71\" role=\"link\" class=\" js-entry-link cet-external-link\" data-vars-item-name=\"focus on the lives of Black teenagers,\" data-vars-item-type=\"text\" data-vars-unit-name=\"689cc9fee4b03bdc4750506e\" data-vars-unit-type=\"buzz_body\" data-vars-target-content-id=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/entertainment-los-angeles-sitcoms-arts-and-entertainment-race-and-ethnicity-29485334613f905bb8274ad7225e2e71\" data-vars-target-content-type=\"url\" data-vars-type=\"web_external_link\" data-vars-subunit-name=\"article_body\" data-vars-subunit-type=\"component\" data-vars-position-in-subunit=\"1\">focus on the lives of Black teenagers,<\/a> was based on the movie \u201cCooley High\u201d and ran on ABC from 1976 to 1979. It had a long legacy thanks to its memorable characters, including the geeky Raj, the catchphrase-spouting Dwayne, the red-bereted dancing phenom Rerun, and Dee with her eyerolls and icy stare.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>Early in the production of the show\u2019s first season, Spencer, then 12, was in a major car accident on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California, that left her in a coma for three weeks and killed her stepfather, Tim Pelt. She would have spinal and neurological problems that would require multiple surgeries in the years afterward.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>Born in Trenton, New Jersey, and raised in New York, Spencer began acting when she was about 9. \u201cWhat\u2019s Happening!!\u201d would be her first credited role.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>\u201cImagine being plucked from obscurity to star in a TV show,\u201d she told Jet magazine in 2014. \u201cI had never seen any young Black girl in that type of spotlight, so I didn\u2019t have a reference point in the media as to how to deal with this opportunity. I was from the Bronx.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>Haywood Nelson, who played Dwayne on the show, paid tribute Tuesday to \u201cDr. Dee, our brilliant, loving, positive, pragmatic warrior.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>\u201cWe have lost a daughter, sister, family member, \u2018What\u2019s Happening\u2019 cast member, veterinarian animal rights proponent and healer, and cancer heroine. Our Shero,\u201d Nelson said on Instagram. \u201cDanielle is loved.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>Spencer also appeared on a mid-1980s reboot of the show, \u201cWhat\u2019s Happening Now!!,\u201d which ran for three seasons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>In 2018, she had emergency surgery for a bleeding hematoma, which stemmed from that 1977 car crash. In the immediate aftermath, a family spokesperson said she could only speak slightly and had to use crutches to walk. She had been suffering symptoms from at least 2004, when she had to use a wheelchair and relearn how to walk. In 2014, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>She went on to become a veterinarian and advocate for animals. She attended the University of California, Davis, and UCLA, and got a doctorate in veterinary medicine from Tuskegee University in 1993.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>Spencer continued to dabble in acting in her later years, including an appearance as a veterinarian in the 1997 Jack Nicholson film \u201cAs Good as it Gets.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"support-huffpost-entry-support-huffpost-mid-article\" class=\"cli support-huffpost-mid-article primary-cli cli cli-text cli-support-huffpost hidden\">\n<div class=\"cli-support-huffpost__content-wrapper\">\n<p><span class=\"cli-support-huffpost__title--first\">20 Years Of<\/span><span class=\"cli-support-huffpost__title--second\">Free<\/span><span class=\"cli-support-huffpost__title--third\">Journalism<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your Support Fuels Our Mission<\/p>\n<p>Your Support Fuels Our Mission<\/p>\n<div class=\"cli-support-huffpost__container\">\n<div class=\"cli-support-huffpost__message-container\">\n<div class=\"cli-support-huffpost__message support-huffpost__message--main\">\n<p>For two decades, celebrity.land has been fearless, unflinching, and relentless in pursuit of the truth. Support our mission to keep us around for the next 20 \u2014 we can&#8217;t do this without you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"cli-support-huffpost__message variation contributor-once-variation\">\n<p>We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you again for your support along the way. We\u2019re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/support\" class=\"cli-support-huffpost__message__link js-entry-link\" data-vars-item-name=\"we're offering an ad-free experience\" data-vars-item-type=\"text\" data-vars-unit-name=\"main\" data-vars-unit-type=\"buzz_body\" data-vars-target-content-id=\"\/support\" data-vars-target-content-type=\"feed\" data-vars-type=\"web_internal_link\" data-vars-subunit-name=\"support-huffpost-mid-article\" data-vars-subunit-type=\"component\" data-vars-position-in-subunit=\"3\">We hope you will join us once again<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"cli-support-huffpost__message variation contributor-canceled-variation\">\n<p>We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you again for your support along the way. We\u2019re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/support\" class=\"cli-support-huffpost__message__link js-entry-link\" data-vars-item-name=\"we're offering an ad-free experience\" data-vars-item-type=\"text\" data-vars-unit-name=\"main\" data-vars-unit-type=\"buzz_body\" data-vars-target-content-id=\"\/support\" data-vars-target-content-type=\"feed\" data-vars-type=\"web_internal_link\" data-vars-subunit-name=\"support-huffpost-mid-article\" data-vars-subunit-type=\"component\" data-vars-position-in-subunit=\"3\">We hope you will join us once again<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"cli-support-huffpost__support-button accent-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/support?utm_campaign=mid-article-web\" data-vars-item-name-overwritable=\"support-huffpost\" data-vars-item-name=\"Support HuffPost\" data-vars-item-type=\"button\" data-vars-unit-name=\"main\" data-vars-unit-type=\"buzz_body\" data-vars-target-content-id=\"\/support\" data-vars-target-content-type=\"feed\" data-vars-type=\"web_internal_link\" data-vars-subunit-name=\"support-huffpost-mid-article\" data-vars-subunit-type=\"component\" data-vars-position-in-subunit=\"2\">Support celebrity.land<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"support-huffpost-login\">Already contributed? <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"js-entry-link-no-impression\" href=\"https:\/\/login.huffpost.com\/login?dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffpost.com%2Fentry%2Fwhats-happening-star-danielle-spencer-dies-at-60_n_689cc9fee4b03bdc4750506e%3Fhp_auth_done%3D1\" data-vars-item-name=\"Log in to hide these messages\" data-vars-item-type=\"text\" data-vars-unit-name=\"689cc9fee4b03bdc4750506e\" data-vars-unit-type=\"buzz_body\" data-vars-target-content-id=\"\/login\" data-vars-target-content-type=\"utility\" data-vars-type=\"web_internal_link\" data-vars-subunit-name=\"support-huffpost-mid-article\" data-vars-subunit-type=\"component\">Log in to hide these messages.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>She is survived by her brother, musician Jeremy Pelt, and her mother, Cheryl Pelt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\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.celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Danielle Spencer, who played the wisecracking and tattling little sister Dee Thomas on the 1970s sitcom \u201cWhat\u2019s Happening!!\u201d has died at 60. Spencer, who became a veterinarian later in life, died Monday at a hospital in Richmond, Virginia, after a yearslong battle with cancer, family spokesperson Sandra Jones said. As Dee, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1959295,"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":[25174],"tags":[343316,22693,41691],"class_list":["post-1959294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-danielle-spencer","tag-los-angeles","tag-what"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Whats-Happening-Star-Danielle-Spencer-Dies-At-60.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959294","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=1959294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1959295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1959294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1959294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1959294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}