Dr. Danielle Spencer, the actress known for her role as “Dee” on the 1970s sitcom “What’s Happening!!,” has died at 60 years old after a long battle with cancer Aug. 11.
Her “What’s Happening!!” co-star Haywood Nelson paid tribute to her by way of his Instagram page.
“Dr. Dee, our brilliant, loving, positive, pragmatic warrior, without fail, has finally found her release from the clutches of this world and a body,” Nelson wrote. “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.”
Spencer starred in “What’s Happening!!” in the 1970s and the show’s sequel, “What’s Happening Now!!” in the 1980s. She went on to study veterinary medicine at Tuskegee University in Alabama in the 1990s. She eventually relocated to Virginia.
In 2014, Spencer revealed she had been battling breast cancer, and underwent a double mastectomy. That same year, she was inducted into the National Museum of African American History and Culture.