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Laura Summer (born November 5, 1965, in New York City) is an American voice actress and producer with a career spanning theater, television, commercials, and decades of animation work. To Ghostbusters fans she is the original voice of secretary Janine Melnitz across the first two seasons of The Real Ghostbusters,1 and to a generation of anime viewers she is the voice of Patamon in the English dub of the Digimon franchise.2 She also voiced Mimi in Hello Kitty's Paradise.3
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Summer's professional career began on the New York City stage, where she was cast in a production of Antony and Cleopatra directed by actress Estelle Parsons.4 Alongside her stage and screen work she became a prolific commercial performer, appearing in well over one hundred television commercials.4 Among her most widely seen early work was a 1980s campaign for Hanes, in which she played the trainee learning the job from the brand's "Inspector 12."3
Summer's earliest on-camera credit came on The Facts of Life, where she played Emily, an Eastland School student, in the 1983 two-part episode "Graduation."3 She reprised the character that same season in the episode "Help from Home."3 She went on to take guest and bit parts in series including Night Court, She's Out of Control, and Grace Under Fire,3 and had a small role in the 2001 Farrelly brothers comedy Shallow Hal.2
Voice work became the heart of Summer's career. Her first cartoon role was Janine Melnitz on The Real Ghostbusters in 1986, which was also her very first audition for an animated series.5 After leaving the show she built an extensive dubbing and voice-over resume, much of it in anime brought to English-speaking audiences.
Her best-known voice role is Patamon in the English dub of the Digimon franchise. She originated the part in Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02, voiced the character in Digimon: The Movie (2000), and reprised it for the Digimon Adventure tri. film series (all six films), Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna, and Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning.2 Her other notable animation credits include Mimi in Hello Kitty's Paradise, Princess Hightower in Flint the Time Detective, work in Super Pig and Twin Star Exorcists,3 and the dual roles of twins Drusilla and Minerva on The Garfield Show from 2008 to 2013.3 She has also lent her voice to Disney productions including High School Musical and The Cheetah Girls.4 In 2017 she received a Behind the Voice Actors Award nomination for Best Female Supporting Vocal Performance in an Anime Movie or Special for her Digimon work.3
Over her career she has recorded for clients including Disney, ABC, Warner Bros., Fox, Sony, Cartoon Network, and Netflix, and she continues to work as both a voice actress and a producer.4
Summer voiced Janine Melnitz, the wry Ghostbusters secretary, through the first two seasons of The Real Ghostbusters, beginning with the show's 1986 debut.1 Her Janine was sharp-tongued, flirtatious, and confident, an interpretation that became a fan favorite.
When ABC mandated a retooling of the series, Summer was let go, reportedly after complaints that her characterization of Janine was too edgy for the show's young audience.1 The role passed to the softer-voiced Kath Soucie, and Janine's personality was deliberately softened to match.1 Lorenzo Music, the original voice of Peter Venkman, was let go at the same time. Summer later took part in commentary for The Real Ghostbusters DVD box set, reflecting on her time with the show.6
Summer remained connected to the franchise long after the cartoon. She was invited to audition for Janine on Extreme Ghostbusters and was initially told she had the part, but the role ultimately went to Pat Musick.
She also received nods within IDW's Ghostbusters comics. On page four of Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #9 she appears as a non-canon cameo among the cab passengers,7 and a list of names including "Summer" appears at right of Peter in panel four of page twelve of Ghostbusters: Get Real Issue #3.8 In 2014 she wrote the foreword for the collected Ghostbusters Volume 8.9
For Ghostbusters Day 2024 Summer returned to the character of Janine in a fan-made short produced by composer J-Mi.10 The piece, inspired by the classic Real Ghostbusters episode "Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream," features Janine confronting Mr. Sandman and declaring, "I'm a Ghostbuster!"10 The video was an unofficial fan project rather than an official release;10 Summer had previously expressed interest in voicing Janine again in the video game Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed.11
Summer's original, attitude-forward take on Janine is one of the most frequently discussed casting topics among The Real Ghostbusters fans, and the season-three voice change to Kath Soucie remains a recurring subject in the GBFans.com community. Her DVD box set commentary and her continued, warm engagement with the fandom, including her 2024 fan-video return, make her a popular guest and autograph subject at conventions.
Some content on this page was researched using the Ghostbusters Wiki on Fandom.
Source Elements, "Laura Summer: voice acting remotely with Source-Connect," https://www.source-elements.com/userstories/laura-summer-janine-melnitz-from-the-real-ghostbusters/. Summer: "My very first audition for a cartoon was for the Real Ghostbusters. I got the job." ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
"Laura Summer," IMDb, accessed 2026-06-13, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0838607/. ↩ ↩2 ↩3
"Laura Summer," Wikipedia, accessed 2026-06-13, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Summer. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8
Laura Summer official site, lovethatlaura.com, accessed 2026-06-13, https://www.lovethatlaura.com/. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
Chandler, Sam (March 28, 2023). "Laura Summer talks voice acting in Real Ghostbusters," Shacknews, https://www.shacknews.com/article/134831/laura-summer-ghostbusters-interview-2023. ↩
The Real Ghostbusters: The Complete Series (Time Life Entertainment, 2008). DVD. Visual Commentary Track (Volume 2) and bonus disc extended interviews featuring Laura Summer. ↩
Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #9 (IDW Publishing, 2013), p. 4. Non-canon cameo of Laura Summer to the left of the taxi driver. ↩
Ghostbusters: Get Real Issue #3 (IDW Publishing, 2015), p. 12, panel 4. List of names right of Peter: "Summer, Music, Hall, LaMarche, Welker," referencing the original Real Ghostbusters voice cast. ↩
Ghostbusters Volume 8: Mass Hysteria! Part 1 (IDW Publishing, August 6, 2014). ISBN 9781631400797. Foreword by Laura Summer. ↩
Ghostbusters News, "Real Ghostbusters voice actor Laura Summer returns as Janine Melnitz in surprise Ghostbusters Day video" (June 8, 2024), https://ghostbustersnews.com/2024/06/08/real-ghostbusters-voice-actor-laura-summer-returns-as-janine-melnitz-in-surprise-ghostbusters-day-video/. ↩ ↩2 ↩3
Ghostbusters News, "Real Ghostbusters voice actor further teases potential return in Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed" (February 14, 2023), https://ghostbustersnews.com/2023/02/14/real-ghostbusters-voice-actor-further-teases-potential-return-in-ghostbusters-spirits-unleashed/. ↩