Latest news with #CooleyHigh
Pink Villa
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Pink Villa
Danielle Spencer, What's Happening!! Star and Veterinarian, Passes Away at 60 After Cancer Battle
Trigger Warning: This article contains references to an individual's death. Danielle Spencer, best known for playing Dee Thomas on the 1970s sitcom What's Happening!!, has passed away at the age of 60. According to family spokesperson Sandra Jones, Spencer died Monday, August 11, 2025, at a Richmond, Virginia hospital after a yearslong battle with cancer. According to ABC News, Spencer became a household name as Dee Thomas, the witty and clever younger sister who often delivered deadpan roasts to her big brother Roger 'Raj' Thomas and his friends Dwayne Nelson and Freddie 'Rerun' Stubbs. Her catchphrase, 'Ooh, I'm gonna tell mama,' became iconic. The show, which aired on ABC from 1976 to 1979, was among the first television series to focus on the lives of Black teenagers in Los Angeles' Watts neighborhood and was inspired by the 1975 film Cooley High. Here's how Danielle Spencer overcame life challenges Born in Trenton, New Jersey, and raised in New York, Spencer started acting at the age of nine. What's Happening!! was her first credited role. Early in the show's first season, the then-12-year-old Spencer was involved in a severe car accident on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California. The crash left her in a three-week coma and killed her stepfather, Tim Pelt. She experienced long-term spinal and neurological problems that required multiple surgeries over the years. Despite her health struggles, Spencer pursued education and a career in veterinary medicine. She attended the University of California, Davis, and UCLA before earning a doctorate in veterinary medicine from Tuskegee University in 1993. Spencer became a veterinarian and an advocate for animal rights, while occasionally returning to acting, including a role as a veterinarian in the 1997 Jack Nicholson film As Good as It Gets. Tributes from co-stars and legacy Haywood Nelson, who played Dwayne on What's Happening!!, paid tribute on Instagram, calling Spencer 'Dr. Dee, our brilliant, loving, positive, pragmatic warrior.' He added, '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.' Spencer also appeared in the 1980s reboot, What's Happening Now!!, which ran for three seasons. She survived a bleeding hematoma in 2018, linked to her 1977 car crash, and had been managing mobility issues since at least 2004. In 2014, she underwent a double mastectomy following a breast cancer diagnosis.
Arab Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Arab Times
Danielle Spencer, TV's Dee on 'What's Happening!!,' dies at 60
LOS ANGELES, Aug 13, (AP): Danielle Spencer, who played the wisecracking and tattling little sister Dee Thomas on the 1970s sitcom "What's Happening!!' has died at 60. Spencer, who became a veterinarian later in life, died Monday at a hospital in Richmond, Virginia, after a years-long battle with cancer, family spokesperson Sandra Jones said. As Dee, Spencer was the smarter, more serious younger sister who offered a steady stream of deadpan roasts of big brother Roger "Raj' Thomas and his friends Dwayne Nelson and Freddie "Rerun' Stubbs. "Ooh, I'm gonna tell mama,' would become Dee's catchphrase. The show, set in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts and among the first on television to focus on the lives of Black teenagers, was based on the movie "Cooley High' 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. Early in the production of the show's 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. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, and raised in New York, Spencer began acting when she was about 9. "What's Happening!!' would be her first credited role. "Imagine being plucked from obscurity to star in a TV show,' she told Jet magazine in 2014. "I had never seen any young Black girl in that type of spotlight, so I didn't have a reference point in the media as to how to deal with this opportunity. I was from the Bronx.' Haywood Nelson, who played Dwayne on the show, paid tribute Tuesday to "Dr. Dee, our brilliant, loving, positive, pragmatic warrior.' "We have lost a daughter, sister, family member, 'What's Happening' cast member, veterinarian, animal rights proponent, healer, and cancer heroine. Our Shero,' Nelson said on Instagram. "Danielle is loved.' Spencer also appeared on a mid-1980s reboot of the show, "What's Happening Now!!,' which ran for three seasons. 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 since 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. 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. Spencer continued to dabble in acting in her later years, including an appearance as a veterinarian in the 1997 Jack Nicholson film "As Good as it Gets.' She is survived by her brother, musician Jeremy Pelt, and her mother, Cheryl Pelt.
Mint
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Mint
Danielle Spencer, who played little sister Dee on What's Happening!!, dies at 60
Los Angeles, August 13 (AP) Danielle Spencer, who played the wisecracking and tattling little sister Dee Thomas on the 1970s sitcom "What's Happening!!" has died at 60. Spencer, who became a veterinarian later in life, died Monday at a hospital in Richmond, Virginia, after a year long battle with cancer, family spokesperson Sandra Jones said. As Dee, Spencer was the smarter, more serious younger sister who offered a steady stream of deadpan roasts of big brother Roger "Raj" Thomas and his friends Dwayne Nelson and Freddie "Rerun" Stubbs. "Ooh, I'm gonna tell mama," would become Dee's catchphrase. The show, set in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts and among the first on television to focus on the lives of Black teenagers, was based on the movie "Cooley High" 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. Early in the production of the show's 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. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, and raised in New York, Spencer began acting when she was about 9. "What's Happening!!" would be her first credited role. "Imagine being plucked from obscurity to star in a TV show," she told Jet magazine in 2014. "I had never seen any young Black girl in that type of spotlight, so I didn't have a reference point in the media as to how to deal with this opportunity. I was from the Bronx." Haywood Nelson, who played Dwayne on the show, paid tribute Tuesday to "Dr. Dee, our brilliant, loving, positive, pragmatic warrior." "We have lost a daughter, sister, family member, 'What's Happening' cast member, veterinarian animal rights proponent and healer, and cancer heroine. Our Shero," Nelson said on Instagram. "Danielle is loved." Spencer also appeared on a mid-1980s reboot of the show, "What's Happening Now!!," which ran for three seasons. 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. 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. Spencer continued to dabble in acting in her later years, including an appearance as a veterinarian in the 1997 Jack Nicholson film "As Good as it Gets." She is survived by her brother, musician Jeremy Pelt, and her mother, Cheryl Pelt. (AP) SMR BK BK
India.com
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- India.com
Danielle Spencer, ‘What's Happening!!' Star, Passes Away At 60 - Who Was She?
Los Angeles: Danielle Spencer, who played the precocious youngster Dee Thomas on the 1970s ABC sitcom What's Happening!!, has passed away at the age of 60. As per The Hollywood Reporter, Spencer died on Monday in a hospital in Richmond, Virginia. The news of her demise was confirmed by Spencer's What's Happening!! co-star Haywood was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy in 2014 and in 2018 underwent emergency surgery to relieve bleeding on her brain. A GoFundMe page was set up to help her pay for her medical expenses."She suffered for a very long time but did it with a great deal of courage," Nelson by All in the Family's Bud Yorkin, What's Happening!! was loosely based on the 1975 film Cooley High (Eric Monte wrote the movie screenplay and created the Watts-based sitcom). After a successful four-week run that started in August 1976, the comedy returned in November of that year and then for another two played Dee, the smart-aleck younger sister of Roger "Raj" Thomas (Ernest Thomas) and daughter of Mabel (Mabel King), and she became known for her catch phrase, "Ooooh, I'm gonna tell Mama!" Nelson portrayed the down-to-earth Dwayne on the show.
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First Post
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- First Post
Danielle Spencer, who played little sister Dee on ‘What's Happening!!,' dies 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. Danielle Spencer, who played the wisecracking and tattling little sister Dee Thomas on the 1970s sitcom 'What's Happening!!' 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, Spencer was the smarter, more serious younger sister who offered a steady stream of deadpan roasts of big brother Roger 'Raj' Thomas and his friends Dwayne Nelson and Freddie 'Rerun' Stubbs. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Ooh, I'm gonna tell mama,' would become Dee's catchphrase. The show, set in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts and among the first on television to focus on the lives of Black teenagers, was based on the movie 'Cooley High' 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. Early in the production of the show's 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. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, and raised in New York, Spencer began acting when she was about 9. 'What's Happening!!' would be her first credited role. 'Imagine being plucked from obscurity to star in a TV show,' she told Jet magazine in 2014. 'I had never seen any young Black girl in that type of spotlight, so I didn't have a reference point in the media as to how to deal with this opportunity. I was from the Bronx.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Haywood Nelson, who played Dwayne on the show, paid tribute Tuesday to 'Dr. Dee, our brilliant, loving, positive, pragmatic warrior.' 'We have lost a daughter, sister, family member, 'What's Happening' cast member, veterinarian animal rights proponent and healer, and cancer heroine. Our Shero,' Nelson said on Instagram. 'Danielle is loved.' Spencer also appeared on a mid-1980s reboot of the show, 'What's Happening Now!!,' which ran for three seasons. 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. 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. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Spencer continued to dabble in acting in her later years, including an appearance as a veterinarian in the 1997 Jack Nicholson film 'As Good as it Gets.' She is survived by her brother, musician Jeremy Pelt, and her mother, Cheryl Pelt.
