Danielle Spencer, who played the sarcastic, smart-mouthed younger sister to Ernest Thompson's Raj on What's Happening!!, has passed away.

What's Happening!!, produced by Bud Yorkin, who had formerly collaborated with Norman Lear on All in the Family, Maude, Sanford and Son, and others, was loosely based on the 1975 film Cooley High. The groundbreaking sitcom, which debuted in 1975, was the first to focus on African-American teenagers.

Originally meant as a four-week summer series, the show was so popular that it got picked up for the fall season. Spencer joined the cast at 11 years old as Dee, the meddling little sister of the main character, Raj. Dee was known by her catchphrases "Oooh, I'm gonna tell Mama!" and "Gimme a quarter!"

In 1977, during the production of What's Happening!!'s second season, Spencer was in an auto accident that led to the death of her stepfather and left Spencer in a coma for three weeks. It took six months of physical therapy for Spencer to recuperate. 

After the show was cancelled following the third season, Spencer went to college to study veterinary medicine, a degree that had been supported by her late stepfather. 

Due to the success that What's Happening!! gained in syndication, a sequel series, What's Happening Now!!, was created in 1985. Spencer returned in a recurring role as Dee while still attending college. After What's Happening Now!! was cancelled in 1988, Spencer attended veterinary school and became a veterinarian in 1996.

While she turned up now and again with former cast members on TV and played a veterinarian on As Good as It Gets, Spencer's primary focus was her veterinary work, which she did for two decades in the Los Angeles area before relocating to Virginia to be closer to family. In Virginia, she hosted a regular morning segment about pet care for local newscasts.

The former child star passed away at 60 after a battle with cancer.