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Former child star Danielle Spencer has died at age 60 following a battle with breast cancer.
Spencer’s friend and former What’s Happening!! costar Haywood Nelson shared the news in an Instagram post on Tuesday, August 12.
“Brilliance! It comes in a great many forms. We all have them and we all have this family’s — Dr. Danielle Spencer (June 24, 1965 – August 11, 2025),” Nelson’s caption read. “Dr. Dee, our brilliant, loving, positive, pragmatic warrior, without fail, has finally found her release from the clutches of this world and a body.”
The post continued, “We celebrate Danielle Spencer and her contributions as we regret to inform her departure and transition from a long battle with cancer. We have lost a daughter, sister, family member, What’s Happening cast member, veterinarian animal rights proponent and healer, and cancer heroine.”
Nelson, 65, concluded his tribute by referring to Spencer as a “shero” and telling fans she was “loved” before her death.
“She will be missed in this form and forever embraced,” he added.
Spencer was known for her role as Dee Thomas in the beloved ABC sitcom, which aired from 1976 to 1979. She reprised the role for What’s Happening Now!!, which aired from 1985 to 1988. Spencer detailed her time as a child star in a 2010 memoir titled Through the Fire … Journal of a Child Star.
Spencer was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014.
“With everything that I’ve been through with the spinal cord injury, I said I know God is not going to give me another affliction,” Spencer said at the time. “So, I was completely shocked when the doctors told me.”
Spencer was referring to her 2004 spinal stenosis diagnosis, which came years after a 1977 car accident that killed her stepfather. (She was briefly paralyzed following a surgery following her injuries.)
During the same interview, Spencer shared that she had “a lot of help and support” following the diagnosis.
“I’m trying to get as many opinions as possible, but it does look like that is what I’m going to do,” the actress shared. “Hopefully after that there won’t be any chemotherapy or radiation involved.”
Prior to her death, Spencer’s last acting role came in a 2001 episode of Days of Our Lives where she was a Salem Place Vender.
She was married to Garry Fields, a marketing manager, in 1999. The former couple was together until 2013. The following year, Spencer married entrepreneur David L. David.
