Though you likely haven't seen much of Cree Summer since "A Different World," you've almost certainly heard from her. Even before she broke out on the series, Summer had made quite a name for herself as a voice actor, earning her big animated break in 1983 when she voiced Penny in the iconic original "Inspector Gadget" series. As it happens, Summer also voiced Chilly Cooper on "Slimer! and The Real Ghostbusters," Elmyra on "Tiny Toon Adventures," and numerous other characters while "ADW" was still on the air.
In the years since, she's become one of Hollywood's premiere voice talents, voicing characters on "Sonic the Hedgehog" (she was Dulcy), and "Gargoyles" (she was Hyena), and even voiced Marvel's She-Hulk in 1997's "The Incredible Hulk" series after "A Different World" ended. Summer also booked one of her most prominent voice gigs the same year "ADW" left the airwaves, joining the cast of "Rugrats" as Susie Carmichael, a role particularly close to Summer's heart as Susie is an African American girl. Summer is still voicing Susie today, and continues to champion diversity in animation, recently telling BlackDoctor.org, "As far as African-American roles, we've come a long way, but I'd still like to see more diverse roles for African Americans and other ethnicities being created in the cartoon world."
Summer has since given voice to Clifford's best poodle pal Cleo on "Clifford the Big Red Dog," and re-teamed with Marvel to play Nebula in the "Guardians of the Galaxy" animated series. And if you want to know which other beloved characters Cree Summer voiced, the list is as lengthy as it is impressive.
