Cree Summer

Cree Summer Francks (born July 7, 1969) is an American-Canadian actress, voice actress and singer.

Biography
Summer was born in Los Angeles, California, on July 7, 1969, and grew up on the Red Pheasant Reserve in Saskatchewan. She is the daughter of Don Francks, a Canadian actor and musician, and Lili Clark from North Richmond, California, and adopted member of the Plains Cree First Nations. She and her family also traveled and lived around British Columbia during her childhood, and started public school at the age of nine in Toronto. Her brother, Rainbow Sun Francks, is a former MuchMusic VJ.

Summer's acting career began in 1983 when she was cast as Penny in the original version of Inspector Gadget. Her unique, throaty voice was instantly recognizable to viewers, as well as casting agents, who began frequently casting her in animated programs. Many of these were part of cult franchises, like The Care Bears Movie and Ewoks.

In 1988, Summer was cast as the freespirited Winifred "Freddie" Brooks in The Cosby Show spin-off A Different World. She remained a regular cast member of the show from 1988 through its end in 1993.

During the run of A Different World, Summer continued working in voice acting. She was cast in the short-lived television series Sweet Justice in 1994 until its cancellation in 1995. Apart from guest appearances on other live-action television shows such as Living Single and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Summer's professional work since has been limited to voice acting.

At the start of the third season of A Different World in 1988, the cartoon series The 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, Cree voiced the sweet and helpful Chilly Cooper, the neighborhood ice-cream woman and innocent love interest of Slimer.

Summer has 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 include Penny in the first season of Inspector Gadget, Elmyra Duff in Tiny Toon Adventures and Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain, Susie Carmichael in Rugrats and All Grown Up!, Numbuh 5 in Codename: Kids Next Door, Cleo the Poodle in Clifford the Big Red Dog, Princess Kida in Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Valerie Gray in Danny Phantom, Rayna Cartflight in The Buzz on Maggie, Beast Girl in Teen Titans Go!, Priscilla Skunk in Sheriff Callie's Wild West, Maxine "Max" Gibson in Batman Beyond, Foxxy Love in Drawn Together, Magma in X-Men Legends, Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy and Witch Haggar in Voltron: Legendary Defender.

Summer has sung since an early age and joined her first band at 13. In 1985, she recorded the theme song for OWL/TV. In 1990, she sang background vocals on two tracks for fellow A Different World cast member Jasmine Guy's self-titled LP. In 1993 she released an album (as lead singer) with her band Subject to Change. Capitol Records did not officially release the album because of creative differences; the records that were produced were distributed as promotions and are considered a rarity. The band, with an aggressive political message and rock-soul fusion sound, remained popular as a co-headlining act with other performers. In 1999, Summer released her solo album Street Faërie produced by and featuring guest artist (and friend) Lenny Kravitz, with the album a moderate success. Although Summer toured as Kravitz's opening act, her label dropped her and a planned spot with Lilith Fair was canceled. The label continued to promote the album, however, sending out a four-track sampler to radio and issuing remix singles of the track "Revelation Sunshine" in Europe, with a special single specifically for Austria.

Summer is a frequent co-star of Canadian-American actor Tara Strong; the two are childhood friends, both having grown up in Toronto, Ontario.

Animated Series

 * Inspector Gadget (Pilot) (1982) - Penny (Redub)

OVAs & Specials

 * Karas (2005-2007) - Yurine (eps. 4-6)