The voice acting world and all of comics fandom mourns the loss of Arleen Sorkin, the original Harley Quinn voice actress and inspiration for the character. She was 67. No details on her death were available at press time.

The first news of Sorkin’s death came from fellow voice actor Neil Kaplan. “It broke my heart to hear… the original voice of Harley Quinn, [Arleen] Sorkin has passed away,” said Kaplan on Twitter. “I adored her work as HQ & as Calliope in Days of Our Lives.”

Sorkin originally made waves on television playing Calliope Jones in the soap opera Days of Our Lives. She played the role from 1984 through 1990 and reprise it several times, the last being in 2010. She was also co-host of America’s Funniest People from 1990 to 1992. She was also a screenwriter, penning for Tiny Toon Adventures, and co-writing the screenplay for Picture Perfect.

It was her college friend Paul Dini, writer for Batman: The Adnimated Series, who created the role of Harley Quinn, using Sorkin as the inspiration for the Joker’s sidekick. It was only natural that she should get to play the role herself.

Sorkin would go on to voice Quinn in The New Batman Adventures, Superman: The Animated Series, Gotham Girls, Static Shock, and Justice League in subsequent years. She played Harley in several video games, including Batman: Arkham Asylum, and in the movie Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.

She appeared in a cameo for Comic Book: The Movie as the studio secretary, Ms. Q. Her final role as Harley Quinn was also her last role in anything, in the 2018 short subject Bane v Superman: The Movie.

Sorkin had been married Christopher Lloyd (the producer, not the actor) in 1999. They have sons, Eli and Owen. Her father was Irving Sorkin, best known as the producer of 2004’s Something the Lord Made. He passed away in 2007.

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Susan Macdonald
Susan Macdonald

Susan Macdonald is the author of the children’s book “R is for Renaissance Faire”, as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in “Alternative Truths”, “Swords and Sorceress ”, Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, “Cat Tails” “Under Western Stars”, and “Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid”. Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio’s web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions,  Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.