Arleen Sorkin, Actress And The Original Voice And Inspiration For Harley Quinn, Has Died At 67
Arleen Sorkin, Actress And The Original Voice And Inspiration For Harley Quinn, Has Died At 67
The actress was known for starring on 'Days Of Our Lives', which included the very scenes that led to Quinn
It’s been a rough year+ for fans of the DC Animated Universe. Arleen Sorkin, the actress who was producer and writer Paul Dini’s muse for the creation of Joker sidekick and girlfriend Harley Quinn and would be brought in to voice her, died on August 24 at the age of 67. A cause has yet to be reported.
The news came down on Twitter from Neil Kaplan, a voice actor known for his roles in Digimon most prominently as the Hawkmon line in Adventure 02, Diabolico in Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, and Emperor Zarkon in Voltron: Legendary Defender. He wrote, "It broke my heart to hear… the original voice of Harley Quinn, Arlene Sorkin has passed away. I adored her work as HQ & as Calliope in Days of Our Lives.”
Sorkin was born in Washington, D.C. to a Jewish family on October 14, 1955. Indeed, it was as Calliope Jones on Days where she initially broke out, starring regularly from 1984-1990, before making return appearances in 1992, 2001, 2006 and 2010. She was known for her endless collection of hats, and a diamond necklace that came into her possession and triggered a major storyline. The character married Eugene Bradford, played by John de Lancie, at the end of 1985 and as of the aforementioned 2006 appearance they were still happily married. She found success as a daytime talk show host but would give it up when she left town. In this role, she performed some bizarre dream sequences in a clown outfit that influenced Dini, her college roommate, to create Harley.
Sorkin’s performances as Harley not only encompassed all of Batman: The Animated Series (and The New Batman Adventures), but the films Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, the Gotham Girls webseries, the Superman: The Animated Series “Worlds Finest” crossover, the Static Shock crossover, the Justice League “Wild Cards” episodes (51 of 52 episodes of the series were parts of multiparters), and two video games. After the DCAU, her final roles would be voicing Harley in Batman: Arkham Asylum, kicking off that video game franchise, and in DC Universe Online. Sorkin was succeeded by Tara Strong, who has voiced various iterations, and the character has been voiced by Hynden Walch, Melissa Rauch, and in her own animated series, Kaley Cuoco. The character has also appeared in live action, most notably by Margot Robbie in the previous film continuity and Lady Gaga in the upcoming Joker: Folie à Deux.
Her other TV roles include being a series regular on Duet from 1987-1989, being a regular panelist on that era’s iteration of Hollywood Squares, cohosting America’s Funniest Home Videos companion series America's Funniest People with Dave Coulier, and was a writer for Tiny Toon Adventures.
The last year saw the deaths of two of Sorkin’s co-stars: Henry Silva, who voiced Bane, died on September 14, and Kevin Conroy, who voiced Batman and Bruce Wayne himself, died November 10 from cancer. Sorkin’s Joker, Mark Hamill, shared his condolences on Twitter.
Devastated to learn we've lost the brilliant Arleen Sorkin. Not just a wonderful talent, but a truly wonderful person. I'm grateful not only to have worked with her, but to have been her friend. Sending my heartfelt condolences to her family & loved ones.
The Penske Media Corporation family of publications, namely Deadline, TVLine, and The Hollywood Reporter have decided director and DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn to be their source, as he shared on Instagram “Rest in Peace, Arleen Sorkin, the incredibly talented original voice of Harley Quinn, who helped to create the character so many of us love. Love to her family and friends.”
Sorkin is survived by her husband, TV producer and writer Christopher Lloyd, whom she married in 1995, and their sons Eli and Owen. Lloyd was a writer and executive producer for Frasier, who would go on to co-create Grammer’s next sitcom Back to You with Steve Levitan, and when that didn’t work out, they then created the long-running ABC sitcom Modern Family together. On Frasier, Sorkin would do the scratch voice work that would then be done by the show’s wide array of celebrity callers. In the original series finale “Goodnight, Seattle” part 2, she appeared as Rachel, the owner of a monkey. The scenes that eventually led to Harley Quinn can be watched below.
Sources: Neil Kaplan Extra, Mark Hamill