Nationwide — Danielle Spencer, the beloved actress finest identified for her function as Dee Thomas on the Seventies ABC sitcom What’s Taking place!!, has died on the age of 60. Spencer handed away Monday at a hospital in Richmond, Virginia, her co-star Haywood Nelson confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. Nelson praised her resilience, saying, “She suffered for a really very long time however did it with quite a lot of braveness.”
Born Danielle Luise Spencer on June 24, 1965, in New York Metropolis, she was raised by her mom, Cheryl, a French instructor, and her stepfather, actor Tim Pelt. She started performing at age seven in a repertory firm co-founded by Pelt and landed uncredited roles in movies like Serpico (1973) and Harry and Tonto (1974). At simply 11 years outdated, she was forged as Dee, the wisecracking youthful sister of Roger “Raj” Thomas (Ernest Thomas), on What’s Taking place!!, famously delivering the catchphrase, “Ooooh, I’m gonna inform Mama!” She later reprised the function within the sequel collection What’s Taking place Now! in 1985.
Her life was marked by each triumph and tragedy. In 1977, Spencer was in a automotive accident on the Pacific Coast Freeway that killed her stepfather and left her hospitalized for weeks. Regardless of the setback, she pursued greater schooling, attending UC Davis, UCLA, and finally Tuskegee College, the place she earned her doctorate in veterinary medication in 1993. She went on to work as a veterinarian for 20 years in Los Angeles earlier than relocating to Richmond in 2014, the place she appeared in a daily pet care phase for CBS affiliate WTVR-TV.
Spencer’s profession prolonged past performing and veterinary work. She was forged by James L. Brooks in As Good as It Will get (1997) as a veterinarian—a job reflecting her real-life ardour for animals, a ardour Nelson in comparison with that of Betty White. In 2014, she was inducted into the Smithsonian’s Nationwide Museum of African American Historical past and Tradition for her contributions to tv.
Her well being struggles had been vital. She was identified with breast most cancers and underwent a double mastectomy in 2014. In 2018, she required emergency mind surgical procedure, and earlier in her life, she battled a spinal situation that left her quickly paralyzed. A GoFundMe marketing campaign was launched to assist cowl her mounting medical bills.
Spencer is survived by her mom and her brother, Jeremy, a jazz musician. Reflecting on her philosophy of life in a 2016 interview, she suggested others to give attention to pleasure and private success: “You actually must dwell life for you at that minute. And simply attempt to have enjoyable. Be lighthearted and be completely satisfied when you’re right here, since you by no means know when that point goes to finish.”
