As someone who has a younger, wise-cracking sister, I was certainly one to appreciate the character of Dee Thomas in the sitcom that ran for three seasons from 1976-79 called What’s Happening!! It was sort of a poor man’s version of Good Times and I can only recall it being in syndication in the 1980’s. I tuned in at times and other times I flipped it off. But in re-watching the entire run of the series (along with the first season of it’s follow-up series What’s Happening Now!!), I can tell you one thing: Danielle Spencer who played Dee basically stole every scene that she was in.
It was her underplayed wry sense of sarcasm that often sent the laugh-track into fits of hysterical laughter. The acting was so basic that she could have been reading it from a book, but her face remained so deadpan that the delivery somehow sounded natural…and quite hilarious.
Danielle didn’t do very much after the series in the entertainment business. She became a veterinarian in real life and actually played one in a brief return to acting in the film As Good As It Gets.
I was rather excited to meet the actress behind Dee when she made an appearance at the Hollywood Show on April 24, 2010. She was sitting out in the foyer area, rather unassuming, with a couple of handlers. She didn’t seem to be getting much business, so I think they were just as excited to see me browsing her material. She was quite friendly and I picked up the rather low-quality photo above and got a picture with her, all for $20.
I was hoping she’d find a way to wryly insult me as she often did Raj, Rerun, or D-Wayne, but she was too nice for that.
Celebrities of the Spring 2010 Hollywood Show will continue…
I met her and Ernest Thomas back in August. I found them both to be kind and approachable.
Dave Chasteen
March 2nd, 2011
I remember her from the “What’s Going Down” episode of “That’s My Momma!”
No wait. That was Mr. Randy Watson.
Eric Hubble
March 8th, 2011