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One of the most iconic personalities of our time best known for voicing Harley Quinn, Arleen Sorkin tragically passed away on August 24, 2023, at the age of 67.
Leaving behind an iconic acting career that included starring in shows like Days of Our Lives and more, Sorkin is dearly missed by her fans and her contributions to pop culture still remain relevant to this day.
While Days of Our Lives was huge for Sorkin's career, her work as Harley Quinn still remains one of the most popular things she has ever done. Not only was she the defining voice for Harley Quinn in Batman: The Animated Series, but was also the inspiration behind the character in many ways.
Arleen Sorkin inspired Paul Dini to create Harley Quinn
To many, it is almost shocking that Harley Quinn didn't actually first appear on the panels of a comic book. Her first appearance took place on Batman: The Animated Series, where the character debuted in the episode "Jokers Favor" and from there, quickly became to be one of the most iconic additions to the history of the Dark Knight.
The actress found popularity first when she portrayed Calliope Jones on Days of Our Lives. For one of the episodes, she took up to dress as a cheerful clown with a high pitched voice, and that primarily became as an origins for what Harley's character would be like.
When writer Paul Dini was having difficulty coming up with a character for Batman: The Animated Series, in an effort to help him, Arleen Sorkin, who was a close friend of his at the time, would send him a tape of the scene which would become the basis for Harley Quinn.
Dini would heavily base Harley on the mannerisms of Sorkin herself, and would later even cast her in the series as the character.
Introduced as Joker's girlfriend in Batman: The Animated Series, Sorkin was only to voice Quinn for one episode, but the reaction towards her was so positive that the character began to appear in more episodes and later on was given an origins of her own as well.
From there on, Harley Quinn would quickly go on to become one of the most popular characters in DC's roster, becoming one of the biggest pop culture icons and with her influence being felt to this day.
The character has had many actors come in and put their own rendition on her with Tara Strong also putting her spin on the character and Margot Robbie popularising her even further by portraying Quinn in live-action.
Currently, there is an animated show based on Quinn as well with Kaley Cuoco voicing her, and none of this would have been possible if it wasn't for Sorkin's wonderful voice performance.
Arleen Sorkin truly was one of the most inspirational talents of our time and she surely will be missed.
