Harley Quinn’s Unlikely Origin Story
Harley Quinn was introduced into the DC universe in 1992 by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm. She is the supervillainess most associated with the Joker, and she’s gone on to be featured in her own shows and movies. Paul Dini, Harley Quinn’s creator, found inspiration in a really unexpected place: the TV soap Days of Our Lives.
Actress Arleen Sorkin served as a direct influence for Dini when he was creating Harley Quinn. This sounds like a strange compliment, but Arleen and Paul are good friends. Paul has said that his vision of Harley sounded exactly like Arleen, and he went from there. Arleen even went on to be the voice actor for Harley in Batman: The Animated Series and many other cartoons and video games after that.