What happened to Danielle Spencer’s father? Beloved child star suffered family tragedy at 12

Danielle Spencer experienced a deep personal loss when her stepfather died when she was just 12 years old. Spencer, best known for playing the role of Dee Thomas on the 1970s ABC sitcom What’s Happening!!, was involved in a car crash during the show's second season in 1976 while traveling with her stepfather, actor Tim Pelt, on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California. The crash killed her stepfather and left Spencer in a coma for three weeks, as well as with broken bones in her leg, arm, and pelvis.

According to Spencer's official website, the crash also resulted in long-term health complications. Twenty-eight years later, the injuries affected her ability to walk, requiring her to undergo intensive physical therapy at The Kessler Physical Rehabilitation Center in West Orange, New Jersey, where she relearned how to walk with crutches.

Speaking about her father in her memoir, Through The Fire… Journal of a Child Star in 2011, Danielle Spencer stated:

"I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to my stepfather, Daddy Tim, whom I loved and who taught me show business as a young child in New York."

Danielle Spencer passes away at 60

Danielle Spencer died at the age of 60 on Monday, August 11, in a hospital in Richmond, Virginia. News of her passing was shared by her former What’s Happening!! co-star Haywood Nelson, who played Dwayne Nelson in the series.

In an Instagram post, uploaded on the same day, Nelson stated:

"Brilliance! It comes in a great many forms. We all have them, and we all have this family’s — Dr. Danielle Spencer (June 24, 1965 – August 11, 2025). 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 continued:

"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."
 

Although the cause of her death has not yet been announced, Spencer was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014 and underwent a double mastectomy, followed by emergency brain surgery in 2018 due to internal bleeding.

A GoFundMe campaign launched to help cover her medical expenses stated that exactly 42 years after her 1976 car accident, Spencer began experiencing severe headaches that persisted until she became unconscious. This led to emergency brain surgery to remove a bleeding hematoma that formed due to the car accident decades ago. The fundraiser, which is no longer accepting donations, raised $10,688. Subsequently, in 2004, she was diagnosed with spinal stenosis caused by the accident, which left her briefly paralyzed from the waist down.

Born on June 24, 1965, Danielle Spencer played Dee Thomas in ABC's What’s Happening!! for three seasons from 1976 to 1979. She later reprised her role in the show's sequel, What’s Happening Now!! from 1985 to 1988. Beyond her iconic role as Dee, she also starred in The Brady Bunch Special, Christmas at Walt Disney World, The Tap Dance Kid, The Family Feud, and Soul Train.