Dr. Danielle Louise Spencer, known worldwide as "Dee" from the popular 70s sitcom "What's Happening!!" passed away Monday night in Richmond, Virginia, after a long battle with cancer, a family spokesperson confirmed to the Scripps News Group.
The former child actor turned Richmond-area veterinarian was 60 years old.
Dr. Spencer had previously shared her cancer story with the Scripps News Group in Richmond.
Watch this report on Dr. Danielle Spencer from 2016.
Spencer said she was first diagnosed in 2014.
"I came into the room, there were about five doctors in there," she said. "So that scared the living daylights out of me. And they told me I had breast cancer."
From doing her own breast self exam, she said she'd discovered lumps in her right breast. After having a biopsy that confirmed she had cancer, she then opted for a preventative double mastectomy.
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Spencer often appeared on the Scripps News Group in Richmond's "Virginia This Morning" and was inducted into the National Museum of African American History and Culture as the youngest female child in a sitcom.
Spencer's "What's Happening!!" co-star Haywood Nelson honored his longtime friend.
"Dr. Dee, our brilliant, loving, positive, pragmatic warrior, without fail, has finally found her release from the clutches of this world and a body. We celebrate Danielle Spencer and her contributions as we regret to inform her departure and transition from a long battle with cancer," he 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."
"What's Happening!!" aired from 1976-1979 on ABC. In the 1980s, Spencer appeared on the sitcom's spin-off show "What's Happening Now!!"
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This story was originally published by the Scripps News Group in Richmond.
