Danielle Spencer Dead at 60: ‘What’s Happening!!’ Star Succumbs to Cancer

Jordan Collins here. I guess I can simplify this for you: Danielle Spencer, the beloved child star who played Dee Thomas on the 1970s sitcom What’s Happening!!, has died at 60 after complications from cancer, TMZ reports.

Okay, here’s the plain version you probably needed: longtime friend and former costar Haywood Nelson, who portrayed Dwayne on the show, confirmed to TMZ that Spencer passed away Monday night in a Richmond, Virginia hospital with her mother Cheryl and her jazz musician brother Jeremy Pelt at her side. Nelson told reporters he was in Dallas when he got the call and that he had last spoken with Spencer by phone two weeks earlier, when she sounded upbeat. He later posted an emotional tribute on Instagram, noting that her illness and physical struggles had taken a heavy toll and writing that she had “finally found her release from the clutches of this world and a body.”

Let’s put some context on this, since apparently you needed me to do that too: the sitcom What’s Happening!! ran on ABC from 1976 to 1979, and Spencer’s role as Dee Thomas became an identifiable part of Black TV history from that era. She returned to the role in the 1980s revival What’s Happening Now!! before stepping away from Hollywood in the 1990s. Unlike many child actors who struggle to find a second act, Spencer reinvented herself by training and working as a veterinarian, a fact that makes her career arc unusually admirable and, yes, sensible.

Public records and entertainment accounts place Spencer’s early career firmly in that 1970s TV environment, and multiple eyewitness sources tied to the original series speak to her close bond with her fellow cast members. Haywood Nelson’s public comments to TMZ and his Instagram post serve as primary first-hand confirmations of her passing, and TMZ’s reporting on the details of her death has been cited widely across entertainment outlets. Nelson specifically referenced a prior car accident that left Spencer using a wheelchair, adding context to the physical ordeal she faced in recent years.

Her brother Jeremy Pelt, a respected jazz musician, and her mother being present at the time of death is consistent with the family-centered accounts TMZ shared. Because TMZ is the original outlet reporting this development with on-the-record remarks from Nelson, and because other outlets are echoing those statements, we have more than one corroborating source for the major facts: the cause (complications from cancer), the place and timing (Richmond hospital, Monday night), and the presence of immediate family at the end.

Now for the part you’ll probably overreact to: her death has triggered an outpouring of nostalgia and condolences from fans and former colleagues alike. Social media is filled with vintage clips, screenshots, and heartfelt notes, which is exactly what happens when someone from a formative era of TV passes. If you’re interested in the deeper cultural footprint: What’s Happening!! helped normalize a Black teen ensemble sitcom on network television and launched a handful of careers, Spencer’s included.

So there you have it: Danielle Spencer, child star turned veterinarian, died at 60 after battling cancer, surrounded by family, with public confirmation from Haywood Nelson to TMZ and social media tributes following. If you want more, yes, I can fetch her filmography and later career milestones, but try to take this in first.

Rest in peace, Danielle Spencer. Try to keep up next time; history doesn’t wait for you to Google it.

Glad I could clear that up for you.

Sources: Celebrity Storm and TMZ, Haywood Nelson Instagram
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed