This article is written from the Real World perspective
Arleen Sorkin (October 14, 1955 in Washington, D.C. – August 24, 2023) was an American comedienne, actress, and screenwriter. She was the real life-inspiration for Harley Quinn and voiced the character as well.
A singer, actress, and comic, Sorkin was probably best known as the wacky but lovable recurring character of Calliope Jones on the daytime soap opera Days of our Lives. She also co-wrote a segment of the episode "Love Disconnection" of Tiny Toon Adventures, the other segment of which was written by Paul Dini. The two became close friends, and Dini created the character specifically for her.
Dini based Harley's personality largely on Sorkin's, and jokingly stated "remarkably, she still speaks to me."
In the Batman: The Animated Series episode "The Man Who Killed Batman," Harley concludes a mock funeral by performing "Amazing Grace" on a kazoo. The performance was Sorkin's own; the producers just handed her a kazoo and asked her to try it, and she did. According to Dini, it was fortunate that she did it perfectly during the first take, because she and the rest of the cast were helpless with laughter when she'd finished.
Sorkin reprised her role as Harley Quinn in the video games Batman: Arkham Asylum and DC Universe Online (along with Kevin Conroy as Batman and Mark Hamill as Joker in both cases) for the last time prior to retiring.
Sorkin was married to writer Christopher Lloyd (not to be confused with the actor of the same name), an executive producer of the sitcom Frasier (which co-starred Peri Gilpin). Sorkin often played an unsung part in the production of every episode, playing the callers in to the title character's radio show (to be dubbed over later by other actors and actresses in post-production) and didn't appear on-screen until the series finale.
