Cree Summer
Summer in 2020
Born	Cree Summer Francks (1969-07-07)July 7, 1969 (age 56)[1] Los Angeles, California, U.S.[1]
Citizenship	United States Canada[2]
Occupations	Actress singer
Years active	1983–present
Spouse	Angelo Pullen ​ ​ (m. 2013; div. 2022)​
Children	2
Father	Don Francks
Relatives	Rainbow Sun Francks (brother)
Musical career
Genres	Soul pop[3]
Instrument	Vocals
Labels	Work
Musical artist

Cree Summer Francks (born July 7, 1969)^[1] is an American-Canadian actress and singer. In animation, she has voiced characters such asElmyra Duff inTiny Toon Adventures and related media,Susie Carmichael inRugrats and Lizard inSpirit Rangers. The latter two respectively won her anNAACP Image Award and two nominations at theChildren's and Family Emmy Awards.

Summer is also known for her roles inInspector Gadget,Batman Beyond,Horrible Histories,Clifford the Big Red Dog,Codename: Kids Next Door,Atlantis: The Lost Empire,Danny Phantom,My Life as a Teenage Robot,Transformers: Animated,Drawn Together,Gargoyles,W.I.T.C.H., andPuppy Dog Pals. In live-action, she is known for playing Winifred "Freddie" Brooks in theNBC sitcomA Different World (1987–1993) and librarian Rosalyn Inez in theABC sitcomAbbott Elementary since 2024.

Summer was born inLos Angeles, California on July 7, 1969,^[1] and grew up inSaskatchewan andToronto,Ontario, Canada.^[4] Her parents are Canadian actorsDon Francks and Lili "Red Eagle" Francks (née Clark). She and her family traveled and lived aroundBritish Columbia during her childhood, and she started public school at the age of nine in Toronto.^[5] Her brother,Rainbow Sun Francks, is an actor and a formerMuchMusicVJ.

Summer's acting career began in 1982, when she appeared on the Canadian children's programMr. Dressup.^[6] The following year, she was cast as Penny in the first season of the original version ofInspector Gadget. She appeared frequently in animated programs, includingThe Care Bears Movie (1985) andEwoks (1985, part of theStar Wars franchise).^[7][8]

In 1988, Summer was cast as the free-spirited Winifred "Freddie" Brooks inThe Cosby Show spin-offA Different World.^[9] She remained a regular cast member of the show from 1988 through its end in 1993.^[8]

During the run ofA Different World, Summer continued working in voice acting. She was cast in the short-lived television seriesSweet Justice in 1994 until its cancellation in 1995. In the fall of that same year, Summer and herA Different World co-starJenifer Lewis starred in the prime time dramaCourthouse, which was cancelled two months after it premiered.^[10] Apart from guest appearances on other live-action television shows such asLiving Single,Better Things, andThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Summer's professional work since has mostly been limited to voice acting.^[11]

At the start of the third season ofA Different World in 1988, the cartoon seriesThe Real Ghostbusters episodes were expanded from their original half-hour format to an hour. The show was changed to be more youthful. Episodes had a lighter tone designed to be less serious and frightening. In these lighter episodes, she voiced Chilly Cooper, the neighborhood ice-cream woman and innocent love interest of Slimer.^[12]

Summer voiced over 101 animated characters between 1983 and 2006. These have spanned video games, cartoon television series, animated films and commercials. Among her most famous roles was inInspector Gadget (Season 1) asPenny (a role she reprised in theRobot Chicken episode "Adoption's an Option"),WB'sTiny Toon Adventures (1990) asElmyra Duff (which she reprised forPinky, Elmyra & the Brain) andMary Melody,Aka Pella in WB'sHisteria!,Susie Carmichael inNickelodeon'sRugrats and its spin-offAll Grown Up!, Cleo the Poodle inPBS Kids'Clifford the Big Red Dog, Mo in the US Dub ofHorrible Histories, Miranda from Nickelodeon'sAs Told by Ginger,Foxxy Love inDrawn Together, Dulcy the Dragon inSonic the Hedgehog,Valerie Gray in Nickelodeon'sDanny Phantom, Numbuh 5 and Cree Lincoln inCartoon Network'sCodename: Kids Next Door, Penelope inBarbie as Rapunzel, octogenarian villain Granny May onWordGirl, Tiff from Nickelodeon'sMy Life as a Teenage Robot, andBlackarachnia inTransformers: Animated. She also voiced Princess 'Kida' Kidagakash for the franchise ofDisney'sAtlantis: The Lost Empire.^[13] Summer has regarded the character of Kida as one of her favorite roles and even considers the character among the official Disney Princess line. She also played a role inScooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated as Lady Marmalad in the episode "The Haunting". In December 2016, Summer reprised her role as Penny fromInspector Gadget in an episode of the web-series,Nostalgia Critic. She later joinedSpongeBob SquarePants spinoffThe Patrick Star Show, where she voicesPatrick Star's mother andSquidward Tentacles' grandmother.^[14]

She appeared as herself in "It Was All a Dream", the final episode ofAtlanta, in 2022, following a voice cameo in the first-season episode "B.A.N.".

Summer has a recurring guest role as librarian Rosalyn Inez on theABCsitcomAbbott Elementary.^[15]

She performed voice over for the gamesBaldur's Gate: Dark Alliance,Black, as well asTony Hawk's American Wasteland. She voiced Auriel inDiablo III,^[16] and reprised the role forHeroes of the Storm. She was the voice of Tandi inFallout and First Citizen Lynette inFallout 2, Tatjana inArc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits, Lady Belgemine, Young Tidus and additional voice-overs inFinal Fantasy X, Lenne/Calli inFinal Fantasy X-2,Storm inMarvel Super Hero Squad, Cynder inThe Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning, Magma inX-Men Legends, and the Inca Princess Micay inPitfall: The Lost Expedition.^[16] She voicesMedusa in the gameKid Icarus: Uprising for theNintendo 3DS.^[16] She voiced Catalina Thorn, the leader of the Cell inCrackdown 2. She had a small role inMass Effect. She did miscellaneous voices inWorld of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. She reprised her voice of She-Hulk inMarvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet.^[16] She voiced Kit Brinny in the introduction video for the MMORPGWildstar. She provides the voice of vampire Roller Brawl in theSkylanders series. She has voiced Professor Penelope Young, a minor character original inBatman: Arkham Asylum.^[16]

Summer recorded the theme song forOWL/TV in 1985. In 1990, she sang background vocals on two tracks for fellowA Different World cast memberJasmine Guy, appearing on the albumJasmine Guy. In 1993, she released the album "Womb Amnesia" on Capitol Records with her band Subject to Change. In 1999, Summer released a solo album,Street Faërie, produced by and featuringLenny Kravitz.

A number of Summer's portrayed characters (animated or otherwise) are singers. The character of Susie inAll Grown Up! was portrayed as a singer with real talent, allowing Summer to sing in the role.^[17] Summer sings the opening theme song forAll Grown Up!. The character of Foxxy Love inDrawn Together was a singer, with songs like "La-La-La-La-Labia" and "Crashy Smashy",Numbuh 5 fromCodename: Kids Next Door sang a lullaby to lull babies to sleep.Elmyra Duff sang many times onTiny Toon Adventures. She co-performed lead vocals in the song "Cool Kitty" withTara Strong, which accompanied a cartoon calledClass of 3000, directed and written forCartoon Network byAndré 3000. She provided the voice of a recurringpomegranate singer inThe High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange, who usually sang during montage sequences. Her character Priscilla onSheriff Callie's Wild West sings many times, as well.^[18]

In 2008, Summer appeared onThe Frank Zappa AAAFNRAAA Birthday Bundle, performing a cover ofFrank Zappa's song "Dirty Love" withDweezil Zappa on guitar and backup vocals byAhmet Zappa, produced byLinda Perry.^[19]

Summer's musical influences include Frank Zappa,^[20][21]Al Green,^[21] andDinah Washington.^[21]

Summer has dual American and Canadian citizenship.^[2] She was married to producer Angelo Pullen for nearly ten years; they announced the dissolution of their marriage in May 2022.^[22] They have two daughters, who were born in 2011 and 2013.^[23]

• Appeared on theJuno Award-nominated albumI Lost My Pet Lizard (1979)
• Appeared as Debbie on theJuno Award-nominated CanadianSesame Street albumBig Bird & Oscar the Grouch: Camping in Canada (1981)
• Womb Amnesia – (1993) (with her band Subject to Change)
• Street Faërie – (1999)

• "Revelation Sunshine"

• Cree Summer atIMDb 
• Cree Summer atAnime News Network's encyclopedia
• Cree Summer at Behind The Voice Actors

• 1969 births
• Living people
• 20th-century African-American women singers
• 20th-century American women singers
• 20th-century African-American actresses
• 20th-century American actresses
• 20th-century American singer-songwriters
• 20th-century Black Canadian women singers
• 20th-century Canadian women singers
• 20th-century Canadian actresses
• 20th-century Canadian singer-songwriters
• 21st-century American women singers
• 21st-century African-American actresses
• 21st-century American actresses
• 21st-century American singer-songwriters
• 21st-century Black Canadian women singers
• 21st-century Canadian women singers
• 21st-century Canadian actresses
• 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters
• Actresses from Los Angeles
• Actresses from Saskatchewan
• Actresses from Toronto
• African-American women singer-songwriters
• American women singer-songwriters
• American child actresses
• American expatriate musicians in Canada
• American soul singers
• American television actresses
• American video game actresses
• American voice actresses
• American women pop singers
• Black Canadian actresses
• Canadian child actresses
• Canadian emigrants to the United States
• Canadian soul singers
• Canadian video game actresses
• Canadian voice actresses
• Canadian women pop singers
• Canadian women singer-songwriters
• Francks family
• Canadian Indigenous rights activists
• American Indigenous rights activists
• Singers from Saskatchewan
• Singers from Los Angeles
• Singers from Toronto
• Singer-songwriters from California

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