Heartbreaking new details have emerged about Danielle Spencer’s final days following her death at age 60 on Monday.
Spencer — beloved for playing the quick-witted Dee Thomas on the ABC sitcom What’s Happening!! from 1976 to 1979 — died at a Richmond, Virginia hospital after a long battle with breast cancer.
Her former co-star Haywood Nelson, who portrayed Dwayne Clemens Nelson, confirmed the news in an emotional statement: ‘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.’
On Wednesday, Spencer’s mother Cheryl Pelt told TMZ her daughter was hospitalized on August 1 after a urinary tract infection turned septic and, unable to eat solid food, had to receive nutrients and medication through tubes in her nose.
According to Pelt, Spencer was also diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs and was losing weight as her gastric cancer worsened, with her family staying by her side through her final weekend.
Pelt said her daughter was ‘talking and alert’ on Sunday before she suffered a ‘code blue’ and became unresponsive.
Heartbreaking new details have emerged about Danielle Spencer’s final days following her death at age 60 on Monday; (seen in 1976)
Spencer — beloved for playing the quick-witted Dee Thomas on the ABC sitcom What’s Happening!! from 1976 to 1979 — died at a Richmond, Virginia hospital after a long battle with breast cancer; (seen in 2012)
Doctors revived her and transferred her to intensive care, but her heart continued to weaken.
Pelt told the outlet she died of cardiac arrest and gastric cancer.
After leaving acting, Spencer fulfilled her lifelong dream of becoming a veterinarian, working in the Los Angeles area for more than two decades.
In 2013, illness forced her to move in with her mother in Virginia.
Pelt added that her daughter endured years of health struggles, including lasting injuries from a serious car accident that claimed the life of her stepfather, Tim Pelt.
Spencer recalled the tragedy in her 2010 memoir Through the Fire … Journal of a Child Star, writing: ‘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.’
As Dee Thomas — the sharp-tongued sister of Raj Thomas (played by Ernest Thomas) and daughter of Mabel (Mabel King) — Spencer became a household name in the late 1970s.
Fans adored her mischievous streak, which she often punctuated with her signature catchphrase, ‘Oooh, I’m gonna tell Mama!’
On Wednesday, Spencer’s mother Cheryl Pelt said her daughter was hospitalized on August 1 after a urinary tract infection turned septic and, unable to eat solid food, had to receive nutrients and medication through tubes in her nose; (seen in February)
Her comedic timing and on-screen sass proved so memorable that she reprised the role nearly a decade later in the sequel series What’s Happening Now!!, which ran for three seasons from 1985 to 1988.
By then, Spencer had already experienced life-altering events off-screen — including a near-fatal 1977 car accident that would continue to affect her health for decades.
In 2004, she was diagnosed with spinal stenosis, a serious condition in which the spinal canal narrows, placing dangerous pressure on the spinal cord and surrounding nerves.
Doctors traced the cause back to the injuries she had sustained in that accident.
Surgery to correct the problem left her partially paralyzed for eight months, forcing her to undergo a grueling recovery.
Following the original What’s Happening!! cancellation, Spencer relocated with her family to the Ivory Coast before eventually returning to the United States.
Determined to pursue her childhood dream, she enrolled at Tuskegee University’s School of Veterinary Medicine, earning her doctorate in 1993.
For the next two decades, Spencer dedicated herself to caring for animals as a veterinarian in the Los Angeles area.
Pelt said her daughter died of cardiac arrest and gastric cancer
Her acting career wound down in the early 2000s, with her final credited role as a street vendor in a 2001 episode of Days of Our Lives.
In 2014, she relocated to Richmond, Virginia, to be closer to family.
That same year, Spencer faced another devastating blow when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Her health battles, however, were far from over. In 2018, she underwent emergency brain surgery to treat a bleeding hematoma, another long-term complication from her 1977 car accident.
Spencer’s personal life included two marriages — first to marketing manager Garry Fields from 1999 to 2013, and later to entrepreneur David L. David
