I wanted to make sure that this tragic news was indeed fact before writing anything official. Late yesterday on social media it began circulating that Arleen Sorkin, the original voice of Harley Quinn, had sadly passed away. As the hours rolled on, it became evident that Arleen had indeed left us when people like Mark Hamill, who was the Joker to Arleen’s Harley and Tara Strong, the actress who picked up the Harley baton in projects like Batman: Arkham City began expressing their condolences.

The story goes that Paul Dini, who was friends with Sorkin, was writing for Batman: The Animated Series and thought up the character of a female henchperson to go into the Joker’s gang. He saw an episode of Days of Our Lives, a soap opera that Sorkin worked on for years, where for one reason or another the cast found themselves in medieval wardrobe. Arleen’s character came out in a court jester style outfit, leading Dini to reach out to them to use that same energy and look for this new creation he had dreamt up.

Thus the character of Harley Quinn was born.

Harley Quinn was only ever meant to be a throwaway member of the Joker’s crew, but due to the character’s overwhelming popularity, this led her to getting more and more fleshed out, appearing in many episodes before getting their official origin story. Eventually this character who at once only existed in animation entered into the official DC Comics pantheon, becoming one of the few comic book characters who started their life out in one medium before entering the world of comics.

When Harley Quinn began appearing in video games, it was Arleen Sorkin who would be voicing her for years. Starting out in the cut-scenes of The Adventures of Batman and Robin for the Sega CD, she would also led her incredible talents to titles like Batman: Vengeance, Batman: Arkham Asylum and DC Universe Online which also happened to be the last time she would perform as the character.

Harley Quinn is easily one of the most iconic comic book characters of all time, regardless of gender, and to reach this status having only existed for a few decades is a testament to the performance of Arleen Sorkin. The character now headlines her own animated series, has appeared in multiple live-action films, countless video games, and as we approach Halloween, expect to see different variations of Harley Quinn in costume stores.

Comic Book Video Games would like to express their deepest condolences to those close to Arleen who will assuredly miss her very much.