DC Characters Based Off Of Real Life People

[Güicho]

The Detroit era Gypsy was an obvious pastiche of Cyndi Lauper and Madonna at the time (mostly Lauper).

(lol... 'Detroit - era', without the spaces, was censored.)

Yeah the Detroit League heavily mined 80s pop culture

As you indicate Gypsy was a Cyndi Lauper / Madonna pastiche,

Vixen (look) was part Donna Summer / Tina Turner

And Vibe was of Adolfo Gutierrez Quiñones aka Shabba-Doo from the movie Breakin' and the cast of Menudo ...

Yeah 80's Vibe (down to the 80's name) was clearly based on Adolfo Gutierrez Quiñones aka Shabba-Doo.
And although these looks and style had been played out for a while, the movie Breakin' brought main stream, and that's likely where creators Conway & Patton came on him, Vibe appeared the same year jsut a few months right after Breakin'. LOL!
Talk about putting a date "stamp" on a character: LOL!




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-WG0gdg2QA






They have since found a way to reinvent the character and powers though.

[Sandy Hausler]

I know that Bruce Wayne and Superman's appearances were both based off of Douglas Fairbanks, Joker's look was inspired by Conrad Veidt in The Man Who Laughs, and Gil Kane modeled Hal Jordan after Paul Newman but what other characters' appearances were inspired by real life people?

Other characters based off real people:

John Constantine - Sting
Wonder Woman - Elizabeth Martson and Olivia Byrne
Dream - Robert Smith
Death - Cinamon L. Hadley
Destruction - Brian Cox
Clark Kent - Harold Lloyd

I've heard that Captain Marvel's appearance was based on Fred MacMurray.

[Jadeb]

Alfred was fat in his first appearance but the iconic design is based on his serial actor, William Austin. Similarly, Superman serial actor Lyle Talbot had a big influence on the look of Lex Luthor (and is still my favorite live-action incarnation — he’s like Silver Age Luthor come to life).

Superman supporting cast member Inspector Henderson first appeared on the Superman radio show and then was incorporated into the George Reeves show before appearing in the comics, so he’s often been drawn to resemble his TV actor, Robert Shayne.

[John Venus]

Kingdom Come Batman/Bruce Wayne: Gregory Peck as per Alex Ross though the end result looked more like Steve Martin. Though Ross didn't start this, it was David Mazzuchelli who first drew Bruce Wayne looking like Gregory Peck in Batman: Year One.

Alfred: Alan Napier. He is the actor who portrayed Alfred in the early Batman serials. Alfred was originally a fat goofball but later they made him thin after the adaptation.

DCAU John Stewart/Green Lantern: Louise Gosset Jr (from 'An Officer and a Gentleman) and Samuel L Jackson (personality) according to Bruce Timm.

Catwoman/Selina Kyle: Combination of Audrey Hepburn and Ava Gardner according to Adam Hughes and Darwyn Cooke, thought they and the artists who follow them lean more towards Audrey physically while cribbing from Ava's style and presence.

Black Canary/Dinah Drake: Has been compared to Veronica Lake due to the waves in her hair in her early appearances but I haven't seen any artist back this up.

[married guy]

Mr Miracle was based on Jim Steranko....

[Riv86672]

Fun thread idea!

Here’s a couple of quotes from different sites.
The first is about the character Lucifer, the second is about Harley Quinn...:

In his book Hanging Out With The Dream King: Conversations With Neil Gaiman And His Collaborators, artist Kelley Jones said, "Neil was adamant that the Devil was David Bowie. He just said, 'He is. You must draw David Bowie. Find David Bowie, or I’ll send you David Bowie. Because if it isn’t David Bowie, you’re going to have to redo it until it is David Bowie.' So I said, 'Okay, it’s David Bowie.'"

The brainchild of Batman: The Animated Series creators Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, Harley Quinn made her debut in 1992, in the series' episode "Joker's Favor," as the Clown Prince of Crime's crazed girlfriend. Dini had modeled the character after his longtime friend, Arleen Sorkin, after seeing her on television.

"[Paul] was home one day watching Days of Our Lives," Sorkin told Starlog Magazine. "We did a dream sequence where I was a court jester, and he said that was the inspiration for Harley. Paul called me up and said, 'Would you like to do this character?' I said yes and came over! I was born to play her."

Stargirl of course, was inspired by Geoff Johns’ late sister, Courtney.

[Riv86672]

Mr Miracle was based on Jim Steranko....

^^^I’ve heard that before!

Kirby based Darkseid in some way on Jack Palance...

[Güicho]

^ That's fantastic!
I believe the Newsboy Legion were all based on his friends from the Lower East Side.



If I had to guess....Black Lightning and Richard Roundtree in Earthquake
As far as I know, never directly confirmed ( yet maybe attributed to Von Eeden subconsciously pulling from the trailer)?




Warning, can't unsee.....








Vartox and Sean Connery in Zardoz

[Güicho]

Wonder Twins powers activate...?
Always seemed obvious, yet was this ever officially acknowledged by anyone in production?

[DrNewGod]

Captain Marvel SHHAZAM! - suposedly Fred MacMurray

I can see why. If you've ever seen MacMurray's early films, that due was insanely muscular for his day.

[staptik777]

Green Lantern & Green Arrow #83
"According to the introduction by Dick Giordano for Green Lantern/Green Arrow Volume Two, the likenesses of Sybil and Grandy were actually those of President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew respectively — neither of whom was popular with Neal Adams."

[Riv86672]

If I had to guess....Black Lightning and Richard Roundtree in Earthquake
As far as I know, never directly confirmed ( yet maybe attributed to Von Eeden subconsciously pulling from the trailer)?

Warning, can't unsee.....

Vartox and Sean Connery in Zardoz

Dammit how could I have forgotten Vartox?!?

I didn’t know about Roundtree wearing that badass outfit, though.
Too sweet!

[Riv86672]

Edit

My bad, I forgot this was DC only!

[williamtheday]

Of course we all know who Funky Flashman and Houseroy were modeled after...

[j9ac9k]

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Larroca based the characters on real people:
- Starbrand : Josh Holloway (Sawyer from "Lost")
- Justice: Bruce Willis
- Spitfire: Angelina Jolie
(not sure of the others)