Child star Danielle Spencer, who portrayed Dee Thomas on the 1970s comedy TV series “What’s Happening!!,” has died at 60, according to former co-star and friend Haywood Nelson.

Danielle Spencer, who played the precocious youngster Dee Thomas on the 1970s ABC sitcom What’s Happening!!, has died. She was 60. Spencer died Monday in a hospital in Richmond, Virginia, her What’s Happening!! co-star Haywood Nelson told The Hollywood Reporter .

Danielle Spencer — the beloved actress who played “Dee” on the classic sitcom What’s Happening!! — has passed away at age 59, and her family is opening up about the devastating chain of health struggles that led to her death.