Former child star brought sass as Dee on ‘What’s Happening!!’

After little sister role in the ’70s sitcom, she earned a doctorate in veterinary medicine.

- ALEXANDRA DEL ROSARIO

A LASTING LEGACY

Danielle Spencer became the first child star inducted into Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History & Culture in 2014.

Danielle Spencer, the former child star who played sassy tattletale Dee Thomas on the 1970s sitcom “What's Happening!!,” has died. She was 60.

Spencer died Monday after she “lost her battle with cancer,” her brother, jazz trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, announced on Instagram. Spencer had suffered other health issues — including a bleeding hematoma and a spinal cord injury — throughout her life.

“Many of you knew her as ‘Dee,’ but she was more than a child actress,” Pelt captioned the carousel of photos of his sister. “She was a friend, an auntie to my three children who adored her, she was a daughter — and in many ways, my mother’s best friend, she was a veterinarian, she was someone who always remained positive even during her darkest days fighting this disease.”

Pelt added: “She was MY sister and protector.”