Arleen Sorkin

Arleen Sorkin (born October 14, 1955)^[1] is a retired^{[citation needed]} American actress, screenwriter, presenter and comedian. Sorkin is known for portraying Calliope Jones on the NBC daytime serial Days of Our Lives and for inspiring and voicing the DC Comics villain Harley Quinn in Batman: The Animated Series and the many animated series and video games that followed it.^[2][3]

Life and career[]

Born in Washington, D.C.,^[1] Sorkin began her career in cabaret in the late 1970s and early 1980s as a member of the comedy group The High-Heeled Women, alongside Mary Fulham, Tracey Berg, and Cassandra Danz.^{[citation needed]} Sorkin is Jewish.^{[4][better source needed]}

From 1987 to 1989, Sorkin had the role of Geneva, a sexy maid to yuppie couple Richard and Linda Phillips, on the Fox dramedy series Duet. She would reprise this role on one episode of Open House, the sequel series to Duet. In 1990, she went on to be the original female co-host on America's Funniest People. She also wrote for Tiny Toon Adventures.

In 1992, Sorkin was dismissed from America's Funniest People by Vin Di Bona. In response, Sorkin filed a lawsuit against Di Bona, claiming she was dismissed from the show due to her race, after ABC Chairman Dan Burke had suggested to Di Bona that Sorkin be replaced by an African-American or a person of another ethnic minority. Sorkin sought $450,000 for lost earnings, and an additional unspecified amount for harm to her professional reputation and emotional injury. She additionally claimed that after she denounced the move as being racially motivated, Di Bona changed plans and hired new cohost Tawny Kitaen, who is also white.^[5]

One of her more prominent roles was the wacky but lovable Calliope Jones, as seen on Days of Our Lives. She played this part from 1984 to 1990 and made return visits in 1992 and 2001. She reprised her role on the soap for the fourth time on February 24, 2006. She returned to Days for a limited run beginning on May 5, 2010.^{[citation needed]}

She provided inspiration for and voiced the animated character Harley Quinn, the Joker's jester sidekick and lover, created by Paul Dini, a college friend of Sorkin's who created Harley for the DC Comics TV series Batman: The Animated Series.^[6][7] Harley went on to appear in DC comic books and in further animated TV series including The New Batman Adventures, Static Shock, and Justice League, as well as Gotham Girls, an internet cartoon series. Sorkin also voiced Harley in the animated film Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and multiple video games. Following DC Universe Online, Sorkin retired from voicing Harley Quinn^{[citation needed]} and therefore did not reprise her role in any subsequent DC projects. Sorkin was succeeded by several voice actresses, usually Tara Strong or Hynden Walch, in various media.

For the series Frasier, produced by her husband Christopher Lloyd, Sorkin would perform as a caller to Frasier Crane's radio show; the lines would later be dubbed over by a celebrity caller.^[8] In the final episode of Frasier, Sorkin had an onscreen part as the owner of a monkey.

Personal life[]

Since 1999, Sorkin has been married to television writer-producer Christopher Lloyd with whom she has two sons,^[9] Eli and Owen.^[10]

Filmography[]

Film[]

Television[]

Video games[]

Writer[]

Awards and nominations[]

References[]

External links[]

• Arleen Sorkin at IMDb