Hey Hey Hey, Let's Get Into What's Happening With the Cast of 'What's Happening!!'

One of the best openings of any sitcom is definitely ABC's What's Happening!!, which ran for three seasons on the network. The groundbreaking show featured a cast of young Black actors that dealt with issues specific to their community and teenagers in general. When it comes to theme music, this show found the perfect mix of goofy and joyous to set the tone for, well, what's happening.

We meet the three main characters as they are walking down a Los Angeles street, bouncing a basketball. We then quickly establish personality traits via individual introductions. Roger is bookish and studious. Dwayne is cool yet clumsy. Rerun is kind of mess, a fact which is driven home even more when the final scene shows him running to catch to a truck his two friends are riding in. It's been nearly 50 years since the show premiered.

What is the cast up to now?

Actor Ernest Thomas played the uptight and nerdy Raj Thomas, whose sole job appeared to be keeping his friends and sassy sister in check. Ernest continued working in film and television, which included another three year run as Raj in What's Happening Now!!. As of 2024, he voices Mr. Omar in Everybody Still Hates Chris, an animated version of Chris Rock's Everybody Hates Chris.

Unlike his character of Dwayne Nelson, Haywood was incredibly smart. Dwayne began working in entertainment at the age of six but by 2003, he was done. His last film project was playing himself in 2003's Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, which is as apt as it gets. The former actor is also a devout Scientologist who says the religion allowed him to have certainty about what he knows.

It's no secret that Rerun was probably the best character on What's Happening!!. He was brought to life by actor Fred Berry, whose physical comedic talents could put Buster Keaton to shame. According to the Los Angeles Times, Fred told People in 1996 that despite being a millionaire by the age of 29, he was miserable.

He struggled with alcohol and drugs, but ultimately left Hollywood to become a minister. He died from natural causes in October 2003, following a stroke.

Dee Thomas's sarcastic, bratty little sister attitude was perfectly captured by actor Danielle Spencer, who sadly died in August 2025 from complications related to cancer. She was 60 years old. Although she sporadically returned for the show's followup series, Danielle went on to become a veterinarian and is the only former child star to be inducted as part of the permanent exhibition of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

Mabel King didn't start acting until she was in her 30s, but she immediately wowed on the stage. She was only on What's Happening!! for two seasons. Where Mabel really shined was as Evillene in the stage and screen productions of The Wiz. Her career was ended by a debilitating stroke in 1990. By the time Mabel died in November 1999 at the age of 66, she had lost both legs and one arm to diabetes.

The gang on What's Happening!! needed a place to hang out, which is where they met a wisecracking waitress named Shirley, played by Shirley Wilson. This was the perfect role for Shirley, who began her career as a standup comic. Following the end of What's Happening!! and one season of her own sitcom, Shirley worked in television until her death in 1999. According to an autopsy, her cause of death was kidney failure, per Jet Magazine.