Danielle Spencer, who played the wisecracking and tattling little sister Dee Thomas on the 1970s sitcom “What’s Happening!!” has died.

She played a witty teenager on one of the first American television shows that centered on young Black people.

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.