Why Did Danielle Spencer, Dee from ‘What’s Happening??,’ Leave Hollywood?
Danielle Spencer, the actress who played the precocious Dee Thomas on What’s Happening!!, died on Aug. 11 at the age of 60.
The show, based loosely on the 1975 film, Cooley High, gave television some iconic characters as Roger “Raj” Thomas (Ernest Thomas), Freddy “Rerun” Stubbs (Fred Berry), and Dwayne Nelson (Haywood Nelson). Spencer played Raj’s youngest sister, best known for being “the brattiest kid on television” and her catchphrase, “Ooooh, I’m tellin’ Mama!”
What’s Happening!! premiered in 1976 and ran for three seasons. What’s Happening Now!!, a sequel series, aired from 1985-88, with most of the What’s Happening cast reprising their roles from the original show. Spencer returned as Dee, appearing sporadically throughout What’s Happening Now’s three seasons.
And that was that for Danielle Spencer’s acting career, more or less. She did have some roles later in life, but her true calling was away from the cameras.
What happened to Daniel Spencer after What’s Happening!!
Danielle Spencer became Dr. Danielle Spencer David.
Dr. Spencer began studying at the University of California-Davis after What’s Happening!! ended, pursuing a career in veterinary medicine. She paused her studies to participate in What’s Happening Now!!!, resuming her studies at Tuskegee University Veterinary School in Alabama.
In 1993, Spencer “fulfilled her childhood dream of becoming a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine,” according to her website. In 2017, she was operating in Virginia, according to WTVR.
“I’ve always loved animals. My family’s always had pets from as far back as I can remember. So as I grew up, I just kept in my mind that I wanted to one day do some kind of work with animals,” she told The Washington Informer in 2013. “So it was my mom who explained to me that my love for animals would take me into one day becoming a veterinarian. I love trying to heal animals. It’s a lot of fun and very rewarding work.”
Dr. Spencer also overcame numerous challenges in her lifetime. In 1977, she was involved in a car crash that killed her stepfather. She was comatose for three weeks with broken bones in her leg, arm and pelvis. Nearly three decades later, the damage caused by the injuries confined her to a wheelchair. She underwent intense physical therapy to learn how to walk again.
Dr. Spencer also survived breast cancer, undergoing 4 months of chemotherapy in 2014.
She released a book, Through the Fire…Journal of a Child Star, in 2011. In 2016, she was inducted into the Smithsonian Institute, “acknowledged as the youngest African American female child star on a television sitcom,” according to her website.