Cree Summer Cree Summer Francks ( born July 7 , 1969 ) , AKA Cree Summer , is a Canadian American actress , musician and voice actress who provided the voice of Tandi in " Fallout " and Lynette in " Fallout 2 " . She is perhaps best known for her role as college student " Winifred " Freddie " Brooks " on the NBC sitcom " A Different World " . A prolific voice actress , Summer is known for her work on " Tiny Toon Adventures " , " Rugrats " , and " Drawn Together " , among many other titles . Early life and family . Summer was born in Los Angeles , California in 1969 , but grew up on the Red Pheasant Reserve in Saskatchewan . She is the daughter of Canadian actor " Don Francks " and Canadian " Lili Red Eagle " , a member of the Plains Cree First Nations . Her brother , " Rainbow Sun Francks " , is a former MuchMusic VJ and former cast member of the television show Stargate Atlantis . Acting and voice acting career . Summer ' s career began in 1983 when she was cast as the voice of niece Penny on the original cartoon version of Inspector Gadget . Her unique , throaty voice was instantly recognizable to casting agents ( as well as viewers even today ) , who began frequently casting her in animated programs . Many of these were part of cult franchises , like The Care Bears Movie ( 1985 ) and Ewoks ( 1985 , part of the Star Wars franchise ) . Audiences finally had a chance to put Summer ' s voice to a face when she was cast as the Afrocentric Winifred " Freddie " Brooks in The Cosby Show spin - off A Different World . Summer , a multiracial woman ( of Black , Native American , and white descent ) who wears her hair in a large afro - style , proved to have an appearance as unique as her voice . 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 . Barring 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 . In all , Summer has voiced over 100 animated characters between 1983 and 2006 , many of them African - American girls . These have spanned the realm of video games , cartoon television series , animated films and commercials . Among her most famous roles was in Tiny Toon Adventures ( 1990 ) as Elmyra Duff ( which she reprised for Pinky , Elmyra & the Brain ) and Mary Melody , Aka Pella in Histeria ! , Susie Carmichael in Rugrats and its spin - off All Grown Up ! , Foxxy Love in Drawn Together , Dulcy the Dragon in Sonic the Hedgehog , Princess ' Kida ' Kidagakash for Disney ' s Atlantis : The Lost Empire , Valerie Gray in Danny Phantom ( 2004 ) , Numbuh 5 ( Abigail Lincoln ) and Cree Lincoln in Codename : Kids Next Door , Penelope in Barbie As Rapunzel and Miranda from As Told by Ginger , Tiff on My Life as a Teenage Robot , octogenerian villain Granny May on WordGirl and Blackarachnia in Transformers Animated ( 2008 ) . In the first season Drawn Together DVD commentary she stated that she was originally hired to do the voice of Meg Griffin on FOX ' s animated series Family Guy , but was fired as she didn ' t have the right voice . Summer is a frequent co - star of Canadian - American actress Tara Strong : the two are childhood friends , both having grown up in Toronto , Ontario .