'What's Happening!!' star Danielle Spencer dies at 60
Spencer became a veterinarian in Los Angeles after graduating Tuskegee University in 1993. She practiced in Richmond since 2014 and played a veterinarian in the 1997 film As Good As It Gets.
As a child actor, she played Dee on What's Happening!! From 1976 to 1979. She reprised the role in the '80s revival What's Happening Now!
Her What's Happening!! co-star Haywood Nelson announced her death on Instagram and confirmed it to The Hollywood Reporter.
"We celebrate Danielle Spencer and her contributions as we regret to inform her departure and transition from a long battle with cancer," Nelson wrote. "We have lost a daughter, sister, family member, 'What's Happening' cast member, veterinarian animal rights proponent and healer, and cancer heroine."
Dr. Spencer was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014. She died at a Richmond hospital of cancer.
Notable deaths of 2025
Astronaut Jim Lovell, commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission to the moon, died August 8, 2025, in Illinois, his family announced. He was 97. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo
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