By Amanda Castro and Hannah Parry
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Danielle Spencer, beloved for her role as Dee Thomas on the hit 1970s sitcom What's Happening!!, has died at age 60. Spencer's death was confirmed by former co-star Haywood Nelson, who praised her enduring strength and spirit.
What to Know:
- Spencer died on August 11 after a long battle with cancer; however, the cause of death has not been publicly announced.
- She rose to fame playing Dee Thomas from 1976 to 1979 and returned for What's Happening Now!! in the 1980s.
- In 1977, she survived a car crash that killed her stepfather and left her in a coma for three weeks.
- She earned a veterinary medicine degree from Tuskegee University in 1993 and practiced for decades.
- Spencer was inducted into the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture—the first child star to receive the honor.
- She faced multiple health challenges, including spinal stenosis, breast cancer, and a brain bleed linked to her earlier accident.
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Aug 12, 2025 at 05:43 PM EDT
What was Spencer’s last acting role?
Danielle Spencer stepped away from acting in her later years.
After reprising her childhood role of Dee in What's Happening Now!! from 1985 to 1988, she appeared on The Brady Bunch Special, Christmas at Walt Disney World, The Tap Dance Kid, The Family Feud and Soul Train.
But she and her mother then went on to spend in Africa before she enrolled at the University of California, Davis, to study veterinary medicine. She earned a doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1993 at Tuskegee University Veterinary School in Alabama.
Her last acting role was a 2001 episode of Days of Our Lives, where she played Salem Place Vender.
Aug 12, 2025 at 05:34 PM EDT
Danielle Spencer suffered a traumatic car crash aged 8 that killed her stepfather
Danielle Spencer was involved in a serious car crash when she was just eight years old that left her in a three-week coma and killed her stepfather.
During the filming of What's Happening!!'s second season, Spencer and her stepfather, Tim Pelt, were traveling to set when they were in a traumatic car accident on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California.
The crash had a lasting legacy on her life. Not only had she lost her stepfather, but after surviving her coma and multiple broken bones, Spencer later experienced paralysis due to spinal stenosis related to the accident.
The child star opened up about the crash in her 2011 memoir, Through The Fire... Journal of a Child Star.
"I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to my stepfather, Daddy Tim, whom I loved and who taught me show business as a young child in New York," she said.
Aug 12, 2025 at 04:56 PM EDT
Danielle Spencer’s brother Jeremy Pelt pays tribute to his sister
Danielle Spencer's brother, Jeremy Pelt, paid tribute to his older sister in a heartbreaking post on Instagram.
"August 11, 2025 will forever be a reminder of the day that I lost a big part of myself. After many years, my big sister, Dr. Danielle Louise Spencer lost her battle with cancer," he wrote in the post, alongside several pictures of himself with Spencer.
"Many of you knew her as "Dee", but she was more than a child actress. She was a friend, an auntie to my three children who adored her, she was a daughter- and in many ways, my mother's best friend, she was a veterinarian, she was someone who always remained positive even during her darkest days fighting this disease. And she was MY sister and protector," added Pelt a distinguished jazz trumpeter. "I love you, forever."
Aug 12, 2025 at 04:43 PM EDT
Who is Danielle Spencer’s brother, Jeremy Pelt?
Jeremy Pelt is a distinguished jazz trumpeter and the younger brother of the late Danielle Spencer.
Pelt studied classical trumpet as a child and focused on jazz after playing in a high school jazz ensemble. He has performed with legends such as Ravi Coltrane and Roy Hargrove.
Aug 12, 2025 at 03:53 PM EDT
Danielle Spencer’s journey from sitcom star to veterinarian
After What's Happening!! ended in 1979, Danielle Spencer stepped away from Hollywood to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. She earned her undergraduate degree at UC Davis and later graduated from Tuskegee University Veterinary School in 1996.
Though she became a full-time veterinarian, Spencer occasionally returned to acting. She played a vet in As Good as It Gets and appeared in Peter Rabbit and the Crucifix (2001), Days of Our Lives, and The Brady Bunch Variety Hour.
Aug 12, 2025 at 03:23 PM EDT
WATCH: A clip from ‘What’s Happening!!’
Aug 12, 2025 at 03:09 PM EDT
Who was Danielle Spencer’s husband, David L. David?
Danielle Spencer was married to David L. David, a New Jersey-based entrepreneur.
The couple wed in 2014, just one year after her divorce from Garry Fields in 2013.
David is a former concert promoter in New York and New Jersey, and owned clothing brand Ego Trippin' Apparel.
Aug 12, 2025 at 03:05 PM EDT
What kind of cancer did Danielle Spencer have?
In September 2014, Danielle Spencer was diagnosed with breast cancer—a revelation that came as a shock after years of battling spinal injuries.
Speaking during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Spencer said she never expected another major health challenge after surviving partial paralysis from spinal stenosis.
Aug 12, 2025 at 03:00 PM EDT
Who was Danielle Spencer?
Danielle Spencer was famous for her role as Dee Thomas, the witty and precocious younger sister on the beloved 1970s ABC sitcom What's Happening!!, which aired from 1976 to 1979.
She later reprised the role in the spin‑off What's Happening Now!! in the 1980s.
Beyond her early fame as a child star, Danielle paved a remarkable second career path.
She became a veterinarian, earning her doctorate from Tuskegee University in the mid‑1990s. Her compassion for animals, resilience through personal and health challenges—including a serious 1977 car accident, battles with breast cancer, spinal stenosis, and other medical crises—further defined her legacy.
She also authored a memoir and was the first child star to be permanently honored at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Aug 12, 2025 at 02:47 PM EDT
Co-star confirms death of Danielle Spencer
"Brilliance! It comes in a great many forms. We all have them, and we all have this family's — Dr. Danielle Spencer (June 24, 1965 – August 11, 2025)," Haywood Nelson, one of Spencer's co-stars, said in an Instagram post today.
"Dr. Dee, our brilliant, loving, positive, pragmatic warrior, without fail, has finally found her release from the clutches of this world and a body," he added. "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. Our Shero. Danielle is loved. She will be missed in this form and forever embraced."
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