Actress Arleen Sorkin, who is best known for giving her iconic voice to the character of Harley Quinn in the classic cartoon series Batman: The Animated Series, passed away at the age of 67. The news of Sorkin’s death was shared by her fellow veteran voice actor Neil Kaplan, who took to X writing, “It broke my heart to hear… the original voice of Harley Quinn, (Arleen) Sorkin has passed away. I adored her work as HQ & as Calliope in Days of Our Lives.”
Following her death, tributes came from various other people such as James Gunn and Mark Hamill.
James Gunn wrote on his Instagram, “Rest in peace Arleen Sorkin, the incredibly talented voice of Harley Quinn, who helped to create the character so many of us love.”
Mark Hamill, who worked with her and gave the iconic voice of Joker in the series wrote, “Devastated to learn that we’ve lost the brilliant and talented Arleen Sorkin. Not just a great talent, but a wonderful person. I am grateful not only to have worked with her, but to have been her friend as well. Sending my heartfelt condolences to her family & loved ones.”
Arleen Sorkin was the first one to ever voice the character as the Joker’s psychotic girlfriend and partner in crime, Harley Quinn, which was designed exclusively for the show before becoming a comic book character due to her extreme popularity. This was partly due to Sorkin’s own voice where she gave a cartoonishly playful, yet somewhat demented voice for Joker’s girlfriend which made her an instant fan favourite.
Following this, Sorkin continued to voice Quinn in The New Batman Adventures, Superman: The Animated Series, Gotham Girls, Static Shock and Justice League in subsequent years. She also voiced the character in several video games, including Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City and Batman: Arkham Knight as well as in the movie Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.
Sorkin marks the second member of the original cast of the Batman: The Animated Series to pass away after veteran voice actor Kevin Conroy, who was known as the voice of Batman died last year.