5 days ago
Iconic 70s child star dead at 60
As Dee, the sister of Raj Thomas (Ernest Thomas) and daughter of Mabel (Mabel King), she was known for her signature phrase, 'Oooh I'm gonna tell mama!' She later reprised her role for the show's sequel What's Happening Now! which aired for three seasons between 1985-1988.
In 19977, aged just 12, Spencer was involved in a five car crash in Malibu that killed her stepfather, Tim Pelt and left her in intensive care for three weeks with a broken leg, arm and pelvis.
She wrote in her 2010 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.'
In 2004, she was diagnosed with spinal stenosis - a condition where the spinal canal narrows, putting pressure on the spinal cord and nerves - as a result of her injuries from the 1977 car accident. A surgery left her partially paralyzed for eight months.
