Cree Summer Francks is an American-Canadian, who has worked as an actress and a singer-songwriter but she is perhaps best known for her prolific voice-over career in television. Over the course of 25 years, she has voiced over 100 animated characters. Her distinctive throaty voice makes her instantly recognizable in many of her roles. She started her career at the age of 11, when she voiced Penny in Inspector Gadget. Her credits include many significant roles in popular animated series, such as Susie Carmichael in Rugrats & All Grown Up!, Foxxy Love in Drawn Together, Princess Kida in Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Cree Lincoln in Codename: Kids Next Door. As an actress, she starred as Winifred "Freddie" Brooks on the NBC sitcom A Different World. Her complete filmography can be found on her Screened page. As a musician, she has contributed many songs to the animated series she starred in. Her characters Susie Carmichael & Foxxy Love were portrayed as singers within their respective shows and she always sang her own songs. Her first solo album was Street Faërie, which was produced her friend & guest artist Lenny Kravitz. In video games, her first role was Tandi in Fallout. Following that, she has provided bit part roles in over 30 video games.
Trivia
- Is a comic book fan and collector.
- Though she was born in Los Angeles, CA, she grew up in an aboriginal reserve in Saskatchewan, Canada and has followed the Native American spiritual lifestyle for most of her adult life.
- Started a pirate sisterhood movement. Her self-given pirate name is Pirate Honey Brown The Seductress of the Seven Seas/a.k.a. Our Lady the High Pimpstress.
- Started her VO career as a result of coincidental nepotism by her father, who suggested she should voice the character Penny on Inspector Gadget after the scheduled voice actress didn't show up. [Source]
- Childhood friends with fellow voice-actress Tara Strong, who both grew up in Toronto.
Personal Quotes
[Source] On voice acting:It’s like being a part of a unique club, where everyone respects one another. It’s not like the music business, or live acting, where certain people will see others as competition. I am blown away and humbled when I walk in the studio and see a woman who can do eight character voices and none of them sound the same! Another reason there’s no uptight attitude about competition is because all of us are silly people and love our job.
