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.

ABC’s What Happening!! It was both entertaining and groundbreaking. It impressed viewers with its storyline, which focused on the lives of African-American teenagers, a first in the late 1970s.

Spencer played Dee, the smart-aleck younger sister who became known for her catchphrase, "Ooooh, I'm gonna tell Mama!"

Bring the family for days of fun at the Washington County Fair. Admission includes access to all daily concerts, special acts and events, the giant midway and kiddy land area, agricultural shows, tractor and horse pulls, farm museum, and much more!

What’s Happening!! ruled the sitcom genre in the seventies with its raw take on the lives of African-American teenagers coming from a working-class background.

"Things not going right is not what's happening," Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Friday of his team's recent struggles that have seen Chicago lose its last three consecutive series.

Most of the ‘What’s Happening!!’ cast paid tribute to Danielle Spencer after she died in 2025. Find out where the former co-stars are today.

At the time, What’s Happening!! was only one of a handful of shows, along with Good Times, The Jeffersons, and Sanford and Son, that provided positive representation of Black families in America to television viewers. The show, loosely based on the 1975 film Cooley High, featured characters who were defined by their dreams and close friendships.