Stan Lee’s Wife, Joan Lee, Dead — Married 69 Years

Marvel’s Stan Lee’s wife, Joan Lee, passed away in Los Angeles at the age of 93. A spokesperson for Lee and his family relayed this information to the Hollywood Reporter and expressed that they be respectfully left in peace for their grieving. Prior to her death, she did suffer a stroke and had been taken to a hospital.

“I can confirm the sad news that Joan Lee passed away this morning quietly and surrounded by her family. The family ask that you please give them time to grieve and respect their privacy during this difficult time.”

Last year, in celebration of Marvel Comics’ 75th year anniversary, Stan Lee gave his “how we met” story to the Hollywood Reporter. Apparently, he was a victim of circumstance, but in a good way. His cousin set him up with a woman, a hat model, and when Stan Lee came calling, the person who answered the door was his future wife, Joan, and not the intended date, Betty. He said he never actually saw the woman his cousin set him up with, but he was immediately enamored by Joan and her British accent.

Apparently, he was a struggling writer at the time. He was also an artist back then and said he had drawn what he considered the perfect woman. As fate would have it, she answered the door. He asked her on a lunch date and immediately proposed marriage.

Unfortunately, at the time, she was unhappy in her union. Joan Clayton, now Lee, married a World War II soldier in an impulsive fashion. But with Stan Lee coming to court her, plans changed and she filed for divorce via a ruling that if you established residency in Nevada for six weeks, you were free and legally single.

Joan Lee was a supportive wife to Stan and was even an inspiration for the Fantastic Four comic book. The Hollywood Reporter mentioned that when he was struggling, he almost shut the doors on his dream when the 1950s was a poor climate for a genre Stan Lee was passionate about. Joan saw to it that he sauntered forth by writing about the Marvel characters he was most proud of. That’s when the Fantastic Four was born.

Stan’s wife has other accolades under her belt such as being a voice actress to some of the Marvel cartoons as well as making a cameo in the 2016 X-Men: Apocalypse.

Stan and Joan Lee were married on Dec. 5, 1947 and had two children, Joan Celia and Jan. The latter sibling died three days after having been born. Fans and everyone on the internet have been giving their condolences.

[Featured Image by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]