Today’s Black History Month profile is Cree Summer! If you’ve ever sat and watched a cartoon, odds are you’ve heard Cree’s voice. Born Cree Summer Francks, she’s one of the most prolific voice actors in cartoons. She’s played over 100 characters since her career began in the 1980s, and has been in everything from Disney to Drawn Together.

Cree got her start voicing Penny in the Inspector Gadget cartoon at the age of just fourteen years old. She’s been working in the industry ever since. Some of her more well-known roles include Susie on Rugrats, Numbah Five and her older sister (also named Cree) in Kids Next Door, Princess Kida in Disney’s Atlantis, and Elmyra in Tiny Toon Adventures. Her recent work includes shows like Breadwinners and Xiaolin Chronicles. She was originally slated to play Meg Griffin, but was later taken off the project.

Cree is also a singer, and used to be in a band called Subject to Change  in the 1990s. They were a rock-funk fusion band with feminist lyrical content, and recorded one album. Their song “Soul Sister” was later covered by Lenny Kravitz. She’s also voice acted for video games, playing characters like Medusa in Kid Icarus: Uprising and Lenne in Final Fantasy X-2.

Cree is the daughter of Canadian musician Don Francks and Lili Red Eagle. She is both black and an aboriginal Canadian, and grew up in the Red Pheasant Reserve. Her brother, Rainbow Sun Francks, is also a Canadian actor. 

You can follow Cree on twitter here.