• Cree Summer is an American stage actress, voice actress, and singer best known for voicing Jenny in Inspector Gadget and Blackarachnia in Transformers Animated.
• Her parents are Lili Red Eagle and Don Francks, and Cree has dual American and Canadian citizenship.
• Cree has worked on a variety of TV roles and voice roles in movies, series, and video games.
• She has also released her own album and toured with Lenny Kravitz.
• As of mid-2021, Cree's net worth is estimated at close to $4 million.
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Who is Cree Summer?
Perhaps best recognized for her unique and husky voice, Cree Summer is a stage actress, voice actress, and a singer, who rose to fame voicing the character of Jenny in the legendary Canadian cartoon “Inspector Gadget”. Her other notable voice credits include for “Atlantis: The Lost Empire”, “Transformers Animated”, and “Barbie as Rapunzel”. Additionally she has starred as Nebula in the Marvel hit franchise “Guardians of Galaxy”.
Early Life and Family
Cree was born under the Zodiac sign Cancer on 7 July 1969 in Los Angeles, California, USA of African-American, English and Cree First Nations descent; she holds dual American and Canadian citizenship, and as of 2021 she is 52 years old.
Cree’s parents are Lili Red Eagle, a dancer from San Francisco, and Don Francks, professionally known as Iron Buffalo. Her father was a renowned actor, voice actor, and musician, who gained popularity voicing characters in various animated and children’s series such as “Inspector Gadget”, “Police Academy”, and “La Femme Nikita”. He also appeared in popular TV series and movies, including “Mission Impossible”, “Johnny Mnemonic”, and “My Bloody Valentine”.
Reportedly, her father didn’t want to raise his family in Hollywood, prompting him to relocate to Red Pheasant Reserve in Saskatchewan, where Cree spent her childhood alongside her younger brother Rainbow Sun Francks. Their life in the reserve was not luxurious, as they lived in a house made of mud.
They occasionally traveled around British Columbia, but Cree began attending a public school in Toronto at the age of nine, although apparently she wasn’t that interested in studying.
Career
Cree launched her career at the young age of thirteen, landing her first voice role as Penny in the animated series “Inspector Gadget”. In 1988 she joined the cast of “The Bill Cosby Show” spin-off series, entitled “A Different World”, portraying the free-spirited Winfred Brooks. She stayed on the show during its run, simultaneously voicing characters in various animated shows. Her distinctly throaty voice made her unique and sought after in the voice acting world, and so she voiced numerous characters in “The Care Bear Movies”, “Ewoks”, “Tiny Toon Adventures”, and many others.
The following years saw Cree juggling between TV roles, and voice roles in movies and series. After making brief appearances in the series’ “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and “Living Single”, she appeared as a regular character in the legal drama series “Sweet Justice”. However, the show’s ratings flopped, and it was canceled after the first season. Occasionally landing a role in series, Cree is best known as a voice actress, with over a hundred credits under her belt. Her other notable roles include voicing Princess Kidagakash in “Atlantis: The Lost Empire”, Susie Carmichael in “Rugrats”, and Blackarachnia in “Transformers Animated”.
Cree has been equally active voicing characters in animated movies, as she has with animated series and cartoons such as “Mortal Combat: Defenders of the Realm”, “The New Batman Adventures”, and “The Incredible Hulk”.
Music career
Besides her highly prolific career as a voice actress, she also dipped her toes in music, forming a band in her teenage days. One of her first musical projects was the theme song she recorded for OWL/TV in 1985. In 1990, she sang the background vocals for Jasmine Guy’s self-titled LP, then in 1993 she tested the waters as a lead singer, releasing an album with her rock band Subject to Change. Later it came to light that the album would not be released due to creative differences between Cree and the record label, so some copies were released independently After the unfortunate turn of events, she continued performing with the band, which was fairly popular for its lyrically infused social and political messages combined with a rock-soul fusion sound.
In 1999 she finally released her album entitled “Street Faerie”, produced by Lenny Kravitz who was her long-time friend. The album achieved moderate success, and later she even toured with Kravitz. However, she was dropped from the label for unknown reasons, later trying to get back to the music scene with the music video for the song entitled “Savior Self”, starring Kravitz’s daughter Zoe Kravitz.
Even though her vocal abilities and her knack for music were undeniable, she didn’t achieve that much success compared to her acting and voicing career. However, she still had a chance to employ her talents as a singer through various voice roles, such as the singer Susie in “All Grown Up”, Foxxy Love in “Drawn Together”, Elmyra Duff in “Tiny Toon Adventures”, and many others.
Video Games
As with many other voice actors, since 1996 she has also lent her voice to various characters in videos games, and has over 40 such performances. Her most notable credits include “Final Fantasy X-2”, “Star Wars: The Old Republic: Knights of the Eternal Throne”, and “Lego DC Super-Villains”.
Her latest roles
In 2020, she provided the voice for the characters in the “Muppet Babies” and “Lazor Wulf”. In 2021 she voiced Queen Xhan in “Kid Cosmic”, Susie Carmichael in “Rugrats”, and Priestess in the “Masters of the Universe: Revelation”. She also provided the voice of Catwoman for the video game entitled “DC Super Hero Girls: Teen Power”. Recently, the revival of the animated series “Rugrats” came out, in which Cree Summer reprised her voice role as Susie.
Additionally, she lent her voice to a character in the “Sponge Bob” spin-off entitled “The Patrick Star Show”, which premiered on 9 July 2021.
Personal life
When it comes to her dating history, it’s known that she dated her co-star from “A Different World”, Kadeem Hardison, during the show’s run.
In 1998 she gave birth to Miles Francis Summer- Pullens; the father’s identity remains unknown.
The actress is married to the producer and director Angelo Pullens; while the official date of the wedding has never been disclosed to the public, they’ve welcomed two children together, Brave Littlewing Pullens born in March 2011, and Hero Peregrine Pullens born on 26 January 2014.
During their marriage, Angelo officially adopted her first child Miles Francis.
In 2020 some rumors circulated of an alleged separation from Angelo. Cree posted a photo on Instagram with captions :” Being a single Mama ain’t for the [expletive] weak it’s for the Tender. Thank you Creator for My Babies, for this deep, sacred sacrifice. I am humbled by the responsibility, still We must Never forget to keep Mothering ourselves.”
Given that she used the words single mother to describe herself, it tipped off many people that the relationship between her and Angelo might have headed south. However, neither Cree nor Angelo have disclosed any information or released any statements.
HOME … #🇨🇦Torontokids #thesix #godblessthefreaks … ⚓️ pic.twitter.com/QAv3cYzVy3
— Cree Summer (@IAmCreeSummer) February 26, 2016
Physical stats and Hobbies, Net Worth
Cree is 5ft4ins tall (163m), weighs around 127lbs (58kgs), with vital statistics of 32-26-32. Her hair is dark brown, while her eyes are brown.
Her favorite character she’s voiced is Foxxy from “Drawn Together”, Cree said: ”There is something so liberating about a character so wrong. I appreciated the irreverence and the political incorrectness. She’s a caricature, she’s the best of us, she’s the worst of us and I love her for it.”
As of mid-2021, Cree’s net worth is estimated at close to $4 million, accumulated largely from her voice-acting career.
The actress is very active on social media. Her Instagram account has nearly 500,000 followers, while her Twitter counts over 80,000 fans. She usually posts photos with her daughters and news about upcoming projects.
